The Legend of Zelda
by Liquid
Summary: It's swords and sorcery at its best! Join the young hero Link and his companions as they travel through the rural outskirts of Hyrule to get the Triforce of Wisdom and save Princess Zelda from Ganondorf in this unique reimagining of the original NES game.
1. Chapter 1 Change of Plans

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter One: Change of Plans**

 _Dearest Father;_

 _I know that finding this letter will come as a shock to you, as will the contents, and I can only hope that you will understand the reasons behind my unannounced departure from the castle. I believe that your new friend, Ganondorf, is in possession of the legendary Triforce of Power, which would explain his advanced proficiency with magic, and I also believe that he is getting close to you in an effort to seize our most sacred treasure, the Triforce of Wisdom._

 _I have sent scouts into the rural outskirts of Hyrule, and they report that Ganondorf's followers number at least ten times what he led us to believe, which leads me to believe that he plans to take the Triforce through violence if he cannot acquire it through guile. As part of my answer to this, I am disguised as a peasant, traveling by coach to the distant Kingdom of Arcadia, along with my maid, Impa._

 _My reasons for this journey are selfless, as I do not believe that our Kingdom's Army is sufficient to defeat Ganondorf's hordes if they choose to attack. I intend to seek the aid of Prince Façade, as surely with our combined strength, Ganondorf will surely fall. However, knowing the Prince as I do, he will likely seek my hand in return for such assistance, and yes, I am willing to agree in order to ensure the safety of our people._

 _Please, father, try to understand my actions, and if nothing else, remember that I love you with all my heart._

 _Your loving daughter;_

 _Zelda_

"What a touching letter." Ganondorf said with a chuckle as he finished reading it out loud. "So full of _daughterly love_ and _duty to one's people_ , it almost brings a tear to my eye."

The tall, green-skinned Sorcerer then took a deep breath and blew his nose into the letter like it was a rag, before crumpling it up and tossing it over his shoulder. The short, bulldog-like Moblins who were with him laughed as he did this, but did not move their spears away from the Princess or the elderly woman who accompanied her. The scene was a grim one, the two of them on their knees in the road, while the dark forest around them was illuminated by the burning carriage. And in the flickering orange light, the bodies of the two Knights who had been posing as carriage drivers to protect them, could be seen lying in the road with spears in their backs.

"And here we have Princess Zelda." He continued as he walked up to them. "The most fetching little brunette in the land, along with her _grandmother_ , racing off to marry that overly-effeminate Façade in order to save her Kingdom from _me_ , the powerful, yet ruggedly handsome Sorcerer, Gannondorf. Why, it's almost… _storybook_."

"I knew you were rotten from the start." The Princess replied without looking at him. "Coming into the castle and entrancing my father with your magic tricks and supposedly _wise council_ , while all the time your horde was gathering strength. But you will _never_ get your disgusting hands on the Triforce of Wisdom, Gannondorf… I…

"Princess, please." Impa warned quietly. "I know you have always been taught to speak your mind, but these creatures are likely to kill you if you anger them."

"Quite right, in most cases." Ganondorf answered while standing over them. "But I have no desire to harm Zelda, in fact quite the opposite. You know, Princess, since you were so willing to run off and marry a spineless sheep like Façade in order to save your Kingdom, why don't you just save time and marry _me_?"

There was no way to stop the sudden look of both shock and horror from spreading across the Princess's face, and the old woman coughed harshly when he said these words, before having to cover her mouth to contain the sudden burst of laughter. Ganondorf managed to keep his composure over their reaction, but then a Moblin started to laugh as well, and without looking, the Sorcerer tossed a blue sphere of energy from his hand. The Moblin vanished in a small explosion upon impact, and now no one was laughing when he grabbed Zelda by the arms and pulled her to her feet.

"I assure you, Princess, I am quite serious." Ganondorf said. "Now here is what is going to happen: I am going to propose to you, and you had better say yes. Because if you don't, I am going to do _terrible_ things to your Kingdom, beginning with making you watch as I slit your grandmother's throat."

He let go of her, and neither Zelda nor Impa could think of anything to say back to this as the Sorcerer got down on one knee. Snapping his fingers and pointing to the old woman, the Moblins seized Impa by the arms, and the Princess felt a knot form in her stomach when the wretch actually asked the question. For a moment she was frozen and didn't know what to do, but then her only choice became obvious when she realized that she would rather die than marry a creature like _him_.

For a moment it looked like she had given up, but then Zelda grabbed him by the sides of the head, making him cry out in pain as she rammed her knee into his face with all of her strength. The Sorcerer fell onto his back, close enough to the Moblins that his flailing arms made them lose their grip on Impa. Taking advantage of the distraction, she shoved the nearest Moblin out of the way, before taking hold of the old woman's arm to help her stand.

"Come on, Impa!" She exclaimed while pulling her along. "Run!"

Their escape started off well enough, with the old woman moving surprisingly fast for her age, and hopefully they could lose the pursuing Moblins if they ran deep enough into the forest. However, they had just gotten past the tree line, when another sphere of blue energy flew right past Zelda, only to explode when it struck the tree she was passing. She could feel the heat on her face, and then she was thrown backwards as an incredible pain forced her eyes shut. The Princess tried to open them, but that just caused more pain, and she knew that escape would be impossible for her.

"Impa, _run_!" Zelda yelled while pushing away the old woman who was trying to help her. "Find a way to warn my father… just _go_!"

With another shove, the old woman finally got the hint, turning away and quickly vanishing into the trees while the Moblins recaptured the temporarily blinded Zelda. They pulled her back the way she came and then forced her to her knees, holding her arms while the Sorcerer's laugh told her he was right in front of her. It was much harder to be brave now that she couldn't see, and Ganondorf seemed to be amused by the way she gasped and winced when he placed his finger under her chin.

"Aw, did you hurt yourself, my love?" He asked while tilting her head upward. "Well, fear not; you will have plenty of time to recuperate while you're chained to my throne at _Spectacle Rock_. The chains, if you please."

There was a clinking and rattling sound for a few seconds before the Princess gasped as she felt the cold metal shackles being attached to her wrists. A set was placed on her ankles as well, along with a belt of some kind around her waist that felt like it linked the two sets together. She struggled a bit when they tried to put an uncomfortable and _very_ tight-fitting metal collar around her neck, and once it was on, Zelda couldn't help but gag a little when the leash attached to it was pulled upward.

" _Much_ better." Ganondorf continued while yanking her back and forth with it. "Now I can easily guide you to your new home without worrying about you getting lost or injured along the way. And do not worry about your grandmother; she will _never_ reach the King. Moblins, track the old hag down, but do not kill her right away. Let her run through the forest for help until the last of her strength is gone, and then take her life _very_ slowly."

"Leave Impa alone!" The Princess yelled, more begging than demanding. "She is a helpless old woman, you…

Her words were stopped as what felt like his knee was slammed into her stomach, and she would have fallen down, if the leash hadn't been pulled upward to make her choke until she regained her balance. Meanwhile, she could hear the sound of Moblins rushing off after Impa, but there was nothing she could do as her captor pulled her along in the other direction.

"I have to admit, I enjoy seeing you like this." Ganondorf said as they walked. "There is just something _special_ about a Princess in chains. Unfortunately, once you are secured, I will have to rush back to your castle. You see, my spies got a hold of your letter _before_ King Harkinian could find it, and I just know that my _dear friend_ is going to be worried sick when he discovers that his beautiful daughter has gone missing. So worried, in fact, that after several weeks he might even give in when I suggest we use the Triforce of Wisdom to aid us in the search."

"You monster." Zelda hissed. "Even _if_ my father was ignorant enough to allow a wretch like you access to our Triforce, you would _still_ never be able to get your hands on it. You've lost before you even begin, Ganondorf; on its own, the Triforce of Power will corrupt you until there is nothing left but the beast I already know you are, and I hope that…

Forced to gag again as the leash was pulled roughly toward him, the Princess was allowed to breathe for a second before she felt the back of his fist go across her cheek. Without being able to see, or even take proper steps because of her leg shackles, Zelda found herself falling face first into the road. The Sorcerer's foot then pressed down on the back of her head when she tried to get up, and the Princess screamed as he ground her into the hard-packed dirt.

"Not too much of that, now." He said before removing his foot and pulling her back up. "We wouldn't want to risk spoiling those good looks, now would we? Now, as much as I would _love_ to march you all the way back to Spectacle Rock, I do have a schedule to keep. Your father should be returning from his voyage this morning, and a good friend would be there to welcome him home."

With that, she heard him take something out from under his coat, and it confused her a little when she began to hear music. Was he playing some kind of Recorder? And if so, what was the point? It was only a short melody, but then the wind picked up just before she felt her feet leave the ground as she was lifted into the air.


	2. Chapter 2 Hero of the Forest

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Two: Hero of the Forest**

Morning had come to the rural outskirts of Hyrule, bringing with it a gentle wind that rustled the leaves while the sky slowly faded from a dark blue, into a warmer red. The first ray of sunlight that peeked over the horizon caused the birds and squirrels of the forest to stir, as did the rumbling of a lone carriage. Its wooden wheels creaked as the carriage bounced along the road, carrying with it a group of travelers as well as the coachmen; all of whom started to feel safer as the sun gained height.

Being that there was such a large distance between villages on this route, it was common for travelers, mostly nobles who ignored the advice of the driver, to find themselves in the middle of this forest when the sun went down. Fearing bandits and monsters, they would force the coachmen to keep pushing on through the darkness instead of making camp, which of course, left everyone fatigued and sluggish when morning came.

The driver of this carriage was no exception to the pattern, and he was so tired that he was almost unable to stop the horses when a red and blue robed figure suddenly appeared in the middle of the road from out of thin air. However, his senses were quickly brought into focus when the figure tossed a ball of flame from his hand, and the driver had to fight to keep control of the startled horses as a line of fire formed where the ball landed.

" _Ha, haaaaaa_!" The robed figure exclaimed in an overly dramatic tone as the horses backed away. "You unwary travelers have fallen into my trap, and now you must hand over all of your valuables… _if you wish to survive, that is_!"

"What is going on out here?" An exceptionally wealthy passenger demanded as he stuck his head out the window. "Who is this… _person_ , and why is he blocking our path?"

The driver was about to say something, but was interrupted as the robed figure tossed more flame at the ground, startling the horses until the driver couldn't prevent them from backing up into a large tree. The figure then vanished, causing the passenger and his daughter to gasp in shock when he reappeared between them on the bench an instant later. His face was covered except for his piercing eyes, and the two gasped again when he put an arm around each to pull them both in close.

"Who am _I_?!" He replied in the same overly dramatic tone. "Why, I am an evil _Wizzrobe_ , and I am here to take what is yours! For your safe passage, I demand rupees, jewels, those nice boots you are wearing… _and her_!"

Quickly pulling the young woman onto his lap, the robed figure vanished again, reappearing where he started an instant later, this time carrying the passenger's daughter in his arms. He then uncovered his face before turning sideways and kissing her; dipping the startled girl back so far that she was almost upside down. Her arms flailed around for a second, but then she stopped resisting as the kiss continued, and the young woman had a sort of embarrassed smile on her face when he finally stood her back on her feet.

"You are most welcome, my dear." He continued while recovering his face. "And as for you in the carriage, know that this was but a _small taste_ of my wicked ways! Now throw out your valuables, or I shall corrupt her further!"

"Not so fast, _evil Wizzrobe_!" A new voice called in the same overly dramatic tone. "If you wish to cause these good travelers any more harm, you must first deal with _me_!"

For a moment none of them could tell where the voice was coming from, but then they looked up, and saw another figure standing up in one of the nearby trees, on a high branch. As if the complete opposite of the frightening Wizzrobe in front of them, this newcomer was a brown haired and good looking young man who wore a green tunic with brown boots and a Phrygian hat. He then leapt from the branch, doing a front flip as he landed on top of the carriage, only to cry out in surprise as he fell through the soft cover.

"Oh, I um…" The young man said after landing on the bench next to the passenger. "I thought that was solid… excuse me."

Jumping up and climbing back through the hole he had made, the young man moved onto the driver's seat before standing up again, quickly resuming his overly confident manner as he put his hands on his hips.

"You have _one_ chance to yield, evil Wizzrobe!" He yelled while pointing to the robed figure. "Unless you wish to be vanquished by me, the great traveling Hero of the Forest! Choose now, fiend!"

Instead of answering, the robed figure tossed another ball of flame from his hand, and tossed it at the hero. The young man easily moved out of the way, although it appeared as though the attack might not have hit him anyway, and then he reached behind his back, producing a boomerang. Now it was the hero's turn to attack, and he did so by tossing the boomerang with such perfect aim that it struck his enemy right in the chest.

"Oh no!" The robed figure cried out while clutching his chest. "I have been struck down by this handsome hero!"

The robed figure then cried out in agony while flailing around in an overly dramatic manner before falling on the ground, and the young man laughed in victory as he caught the returning boomerang. Then he jumped down from the carriage, and walked over to his vanquished foe before placing a foot on his back.

"You learn only too late, evil Wizzrobe!" He declared loudly. "That wicked men will never succeed so long as men like me are willing to stand against the darkness!"

"Bravo, great hero!" The passenger shouted while clapping as he leaned out the window again. "Well done! You have saved both my wealth _and_ my daughter's virtue. Please, I insist that you take this reward!"

He vanished back into the carriage for a moment, and returned with a decent size pouch of rupees that he tossed to the young man. The hero caught the bag just in time for the passenger's daughter to run up and give him a kiss on the cheek, and then she returned to the carriage. Now that the danger was passed, the driver was able to get the horses moving again, and the young man waved goodbye to them; smiling and remaining where he was until the carriage had rolled out of sight. Once they were gone, he moved his foot off the robed figure, and even helped him to his feet once he had rolled onto his back.

"That really hurt this time, Link." The robed figure groaned as he took off the hood, revealing himself to be around the same age with blue skin and black hair. "Would it _kill_ you to let me play the hero once in a while?"

"Relax, Agahnim." Link replied as he helped him brush himself off. "The villain has to be frightening, or those rich morons might see through it. And besides, _you're_ the one who can throw fireballs, remember? And that's, well… frightening."

It was a performance that the two of them had given several times on this, as well as many other roads through the forest, and each time it worked like a charm. Agahnim would frighten the exhausted travelers with his magic, and then Link would show up and save them just in the nick of time. The terrified nobles were always so grateful for this _rescue_ that they always insisted on giving him a large reward, which allowed the two of them to continue to eat and live _without_ getting a price put on their heads.

"So, how much did we get?" Agahnim asked as they started walking down the road.

"Well, let's see." Link replied, digging through the pouch. "We've got, um… six blue, and a little over ten yellow, so… wow, almost _fifty_ rupees!"

This was truly a cause for celebration, since in this part of the Kingdom, where things were considerably less expensive than in the more populated northern regions, the possibilities were almost endless with that much money. It was rare that such an amount would be gained from a single mark, and this would move Link a lot closer to his goal of purchasing a real sword and shield. The boomerang was nice, and he was becoming quite proficient with it, but he felt that he would be more convincing as a traveling hero if he had these things.

Agahnim, on the other hand, used what he saved of their intake for other purposes. A lot of times he would buy the components necessary to make explosives, or even magical elixirs that could heal almost any injury. However, these components were expensive, and the items in question were difficult to construct, so the number he carried was always quite limited. As for weapons, he mostly relied on his magic, but vanishing and producing flame were _not_ the only things that he could do.

"Looks like the start of a beautiful day." Link said as he looked up. "Not a cloud in the sky, and plenty in our pockets."

"Indeed." Agahnim replied. "A real shame, though, that the girl from that carriage couldn't stay… a wonder how angry her father would be if he found out how good she was at kissing."

They both started laughing at this, and for them, this really was the ideal way to begin the morning. Through the canopy of leaves that shaded the road, a clear blue sky was visible, and aside from their footsteps, the only sound was that of unseen animals scurrying along. It was still a few miles to the nearest village, and once there they would not only be able to buy the things they needed, but also maybe even afford a decent place to sleep for the night. The cave they occupied certainly had its charm, but there was just something special about four walls and a roof.

"Did you hear that?" Agahnim asked as he stopped walking.

Link's fantasizing was interrupted as he stopped as well, and sure enough, there was a sound that did not belong in the forest. It sounded like something moving quickly through the lower shrubs and branches of the forest, but bigger than an animal, although not as fast as something that size should be. A few moments later the mystery was unraveled when it wasn't an animal that stumbled onto the road, but an old woman who did not appear to be having as good of a day as they were.

"He… he… lp." She coughed between labored breaths once she saw then. "Pl… please… he… lp… me."

Making it about three steps toward them before falling on her face, the old woman appeared to be at the end of her strength as she rolled onto her side. Her clothes were torn in places, probably from getting caught on the branches as she ran, and she was covered in dirt, most likely from several falls while trying to navigate through the trees at night without a candle, but the biggest question as they knelt down to check on her was _why_? Why was this old woman running through the forest at night?

Of course the answer was quick to follow as there was some more rustling, before a Moblin stepped out onto the road. It chuckled a bit when it spotted them, and slowly advanced, followed by another… and another… and another…


	3. Chapter 3 Moblin Ambush

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Three: Moblin Ambush**

The half a dozen Moblins slowly approached after the last of them had stepped into view, each one carrying a spear. There had been an increasing number of sighting of these and other strange creatures in the past several months, and although the descriptions were always different, the common theme was always violence. They would randomly attack travelers, or in some cases, like apparently what was happening today, chase down an innocent person for nothing other than the pleasure of doing so.

"Has the chase ended?" One of them asked as the group stopped. "Do we get to take her now?"

"Ganondorf said not till her strength was gone." Another replied. "We have to make sure she cannot run away again."

Any idiot could have seen that this old woman wasn't going anywhere. She was exhausted, and although the dead branches only made small scratches, a whole night of running blindly through them could quickly add up. On her own she would probably survive after having some food and rest, but it was pretty reasonable to assume that these Moblins were not going to provide either for her.

"What about _them_?" Another Moblin asked while pointing. "They do not appear to be feeble."

"Ignore them." The first one answered. "We have weapons and greater numbers; they will flee like all cowards of this land, and we will take what we want."

"Are they talking about us?" Agahnim asked as the Moblins resumed approaching.

"I think so." Link replied. "But if they think we're going to just let them hurt this old lady, they've got another thing coming."

They nodded to each other, and then stood up, causing the small horde of Moblins to stop again when they two of them moved between the creatures and the old woman. The creatures hesitated again, obviously expecting them to just run away as their leader predicted, but then they growled and readied their spears. Apparently the time for talking was over as the Moblins rushed forward, but the creatures were probably not expecting to be met with a boomerang and fireball flying at them.

The first Moblin cried out as the boomerang struck it in the forehead, knocking it off its feet, and he did not move again as the weapon returned to Link's hand. As for the one standing next to it, the ball of flame struck it in the chest, causing the creature to scream and run away when its body was completely engulfed in flames. The others were caught completely off guard by this, but seemed to refocus once the enflamed one ran right into a tree and fell over.

"Get them!" The nearest one yelled.

Link rolled out of the way as the closest one to him swung his spear, and then he used the boomerang like a sword; swinging it at the Moblin's legs, and knocking the creature down. The next creature stabbed at him, but he deflected it with the boomerang, and rushed forward, tackling the Moblin to the ground. The creature used the momentum to its advantage, getting its feet under Link's stomach and using them to throw the young man so that he flipped forward and landed on his back.

As for Agahnim, he vanished just as the creature nearest to him was stabbing, reappearing behind it and grabbing hold of the next Moblin's spear. This next creature gasped as he spun around and kicked it in the chest, claiming its weapon as it was knocked down, and then he turned back and tossed it; making the first Moblin yelp as the point sunk into its back. The robed wizard was then turning around to deal with the second one, but it was his turn to cry out in surprise as it tackled him to the ground.

Both of Links Moblins were back on their feet now, and he really wished that he had a sword as he deflected stab after stab by continuing to use the boomerang as a blade. An opening appeared after he ducked down to avoid a wild swing, and he tossed the boomerang, solving one of his problems when the weapon struck the creature in the throat; the Moblin gasping as it collapsed to the ground. However, the other creature hit him in the arm with the spear pole, making him unable to catch the returning weapon. It fell to the ground a short distance away, but instead of getting it back, he had to grab the Moblin's spear to keep it from stabbing him.

Meanwhile, Agahnim continued to struggle with the creature that tackled him. The Moblin was physically stronger than him, and its clawed fingers slowly moved toward his throat while he tried to push them back. He vanished a couple times to try and get away, but since the creature was touching him, it came along for the ride, leaving him in the same predicament. Now the claws were only inches from his throat, and it appeared that the creature was going to win, but as stated before, fire and vanishing were not his only tricks.

"I have a surprise for you." The robed wizard groaned as magic crackled at his fingers. " _Hechizo_!"

The creature gasped as it was engulfed in a small flash of light, and when the light faded, Agahnim was no longer struggling with a Moblin, but a gelatinous blue Bot creature. The robed wizard laughed a little as the confused creature moved about, but then a ball of flame from both hands ended its suffering. Its gelatinous body was quickly incinerated, and now Agahnim could easily push the ashes away as he got to his feet.

Link was having a slightly more difficult time as he struggled with the stocky Moblin for control of its spear, each trying to push the other off balance while pulling on the weapon. They swung each other around, moving back and forth across the road, until the young man leaned back before head-butting the creature. The impact left both of them dazed for a moment, but the Moblin recovered first; swinging its spear, but still being dazed enough so that the pole hit Link's legs instead of the point going across his chest.

The young man was knocked off his feet, and the creature raised the spear over its head to finish him, when a ball of flame hit its hands. The Moblin groaned as it dropped the spear, giving Link enough time to both roll over to grab his fallen boomerang, and toss it. His aim was off, so the weapon flew right past the creature's head, making it laugh as it prepared to attack, but then the boomerang returned. It slammed into the back of the Moblin's head with a loud crack, and once it fell, the creature did not move again. The battle was over, with Link and Agahnim victorious, and now maybe they could figure out what was going on.

"I'll check those creatures for loot." Link said after Agahnim helped him up. "You go see what you can do about the old woman."

Picking up his boomerang and putting it back on his belt, the young man did a quick search of the Moblins' bodies to see if they had any valuables, while the robed wizard returned to the old woman who had not moved from where she fell. Aside from their weapons and the clothes on their backs, the creatures had nothing, so he returned to the others just as Agahnim was helping the old woman sit up.

"I only know how to heal _myself_ through magic." He explained while taking a phial of blue liquid out from under his robe. "Now, this might not taste very good, but it should keep you alive."

There was only a tiny amount of the liquid left inside the phial, which was no surprise given how expensive the components were, along with how difficult it was to make. But regardless of how much was left, the robed wizard poured the contents into her mouth, and as expected, she coughed from the incredibly bitter taste. No sooner had she swallowed the potion, when some of the cuts on her body began to fade away. There were still a good number left when the process was finished, but now at least she could move and breathe properly.

"Thank you, boys." She said with a tired tone. "I thought… I thought old Impa had finally taken her last steps."

"Ask her what this was all about, Agahnim." Link asked as he kneeled down with them. "Why were a half a dozen Moblins chasing you, old woman?"

"Give her a moment, Link." Agahnim replied. "The Life Potion takes time to finish working, and remember, she didn't have anything _close_ to a full dose."

"I will be fine now, young wizard." Impa answered. "And a ranger, as well? This chase might have been a blessing in disguise… I am Impa, nursemaid of Princess Zelda of Hyrule. Something terrible has happened, and I have much to tell you, but first… we must get away from this road. Those Moblins might not be the only ones Ganondorf will send after me."

"Ganondorf?" Link asked as they helped her up. "The Moblin said that name, too. Isn't he that foreigner with green skin?"

"We should take her to the cave." Agahnim interrupted. "She can answer all of our questions there, and at least we'll be hidden if any more Moblins come looking."

"Yes, I will tell you all that I know." Impa replied, leaning on them as they started walking. "But we must be swift… Ganondorf has spies everywhere, and it will not be long before he discovers that his servants have failed. I hate to burden you boys like this, but I will be of little use in my current condition… so I have no choice but to place the fate of Hyrule on your shoulders."


	4. Chapter 4 King Harkinian

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Four: King Harkinian**

If anyone had been standing on the highest balcony of the North Palace of Hyrule, they would have seen a small tornado appear out of nowhere. It came without warning, and was not much taller than a man as it touched down on the tiled floor, blowing portraits off the wall before vanishing a moment later. When the tornado was gone, the green-skinned form of Ganondorf was left in its place; slipping the recorder back into his pocket and brushing his red hair from his face before starting forward.

This particular balcony led into Princess Zelda's bedchamber, obviously unoccupied since the Princess in question was currently chained to his throne, deep inside the labyrinth of Spectacle Rock. It was also where one of his spies, a small winged Keese to be exact, had discovered the note addressed to her father, King Harkinian. It was a good thing, too, since without it, the Princess might have been able to reach Arcadia without the sorcerer even realizing that she was gone.

This would have been bad for him, since even though Ganondorf had more than enough allies in the outskirts of Hyrule to overwhelm the Kingdom, he was not prepared to face the Armies of a second Kingdom at the same time. Well… not without possessing the Triforce of Wisdom, anyway. After that, he would love nothing more than to massacre Arcadia's forces, as well as personally _skull-drag_ that ridiculous Prince Façade across every inch of swampland in both Kingdoms.

Aside from Zelda, there was nothing else in this room that interested him, and he already had her, so he walked across to the large door on the far side. It opened up into a hallway where the castle servants were going about their morning routine, and like good little workers, they kept their heads down as to keep from bothering their betters. This was the way he preferred the people of this land to conduct themselves around him, and soon it wouldn't be just the servants that did so, but also the nobles, and even the King himself.

"Ganondorf!" A voice to match his thoughts rang out. "Ganondorf, my friend! I was hoping you were in the castle!"

Turning around, the sorcerer sighed as he saw the portly and white-bearded form of King Harkinian rushing down the hallway toward him. The King was so focused on reaching him that he ran right into one of the servants who was carrying a tray of dishes. This caused an intense racket as they and the dishes fell onto the floor, but instead of punishing the servant for his incompetence, the King actually remained on the floor to help him pick up the pieces. Then to top it off, as if helping wasn't enough of an insult to a ruler, Harkinian actually _apologized_ to the servant before continuing on his way.

"Ganondorf, my friend." The King repeated urgently once he reached him. "I must speak to you at once."

"Of course, your Highness." Ganondorf replied sympathetically. "I may not be from Hyrule, but I am here to serve you in any way that I can."

Instead of explaining further, Harkinian looked around nervously as if to make sure that no one was around to hear what he had to say, and apparently he was not satisfied. Grabbing the sorcerer's arm, he led him down the hall and onto the staircase that went to the lower levels, still not saying a word by the time they reached the ground floor. Some of the servants gave them puzzled looks as they rushed by, but a quick angry glare from Ganondorf would stop this easily enough, but still the King led on until they entered a part of the castle that he had never been into before.

"I apologize for acting so strangely." Harkinian explained as they kept going. "But we must discuss a matter of _grave_ importance, and it can only be shared with those I know I can trust beyond a shadow of a doubt… I tell you, it is a good thing that I am such an excellent judge of character."

"You certainly are, your Highness." Ganondorf replied while rolling his eyes. "You certainly are."

It was a much older wing, and very seldom used, judging by the cobwebs and thick layers of dust. There were also no servants around, and the sudden silence made the echoes of their footsteps seem especially loud. More and more dust was kicked up by their feet as they moved through room after abandoned room. There was plenty of light coming in through the unwashed windows as they moved through one last door that the King had to unlock with a key from around his neck, and now they entered a small chamber that contained…

" _Zelda_?!" Ganondorf exclaimed with genuine surprise.

At the center of the room there was a small shrine which was set atop a short set of pyramid stairs. And on top of the shrine, sleeping on a bed that was surrounded by a row of tall candles, was Princess Zelda. Wait, no… her face and body were right, but her hair was the wrong color; being a fair blonde instead of the dark brown. But other than that one small difference, this sleeping girl was just as young and beautiful as the Princess he had recently captured.

"What?" King Harkinian asked as he looked. "Oh no, my friend, this is _not_ my daughter… actually quite the opposite. My daughter is _named_ after her, but this is actually my ancestor from _several_ generations ago. I am afraid that I don't know the whole story, but she was cursed by an evil magician, and has been sleeping even since. It must have been a whopper of a spell, too, because I heard that my great-great-great grandfather once tried to use the Triforce to free her… when we had both of them, this is. But not even the unified Wisdom and Power could do it."

"Hmm, that is… hard to believe." The sorcerer replied as he moved closer. "Sleeping for that long, yet not aging, and not even _both_ Triforces could free her?"

Ganondorf moved up to the shrine, and climbed the stairs so that he was standing over the sleeping young woman. She was breathing softly, and her skin was warm to the touch when he placed his hand on her cheek. Unlike the rest of this whole wing of the castle, there was no dust on her or the shrine, and the candles, although burning brightly, showed no signs of the wax melting.

"Perhaps someday she will wake." The King continued as Ganondorf came back down. "But right now we have a more urgent matter to attend to. You see, my daughter did not come to breakfast this morning, and no one seems to know where she has gone. My first thought was to ask Impa if perhaps she had gone riding or something, but then I discovered that Impa was gone as well. They have traveled the Kingdom together before, but never without telling me, so where could they have gone?"

"Your Highness, do not distress yourself." The sorcerer replied. "Surely you can remember what it was like to be young and impulsive. I am certain that you did not choose to inform your parents about _everything_ you did at that age, am I correct?"

This thought seemed to calm the King for the moment, and he even chuckled about whatever was going on inside his head. It was important that Ganondorf keep him calm enough to stop him from ordering a Kingdom-wide search by the Army, but also just nervous enough to eventually seek guidance from the Triforce of Wisdom. This was a delicate balance, to be sure, but he was confident that it could be done.

"You may be right, my friend." Harkinian continued. "Why, at her age I was constantly sneaking into this very castle; I would avoid the guards as I moved to the upper levels, and then I would have a bushel of flowers in my hand as I used a rope to swing across to Princess Midna's bedchamber, and then we would… well, I just hope that Zelda's moral standards are higher than her mother's were at that age."

"There, you see?" Ganondorf said reassuringly while putting a hand on his shoulder. "Nothing at all to worry about, is there, your Highness? Even if she were doing something along those lines, you would be able to catch any young man who tried the same thing… but then again, she left the castle, so who _knows_ what someone descended from you would get into? Not to be rude, but she could be out spending time with peasants, or maybe causing trouble in youthful rebellion. Not that I believe your daughter would ever steal from a shop, or join a gang of forest brigands, but as you said… no one knows."

The calm had faded from the King's face, and had been replaced by a look of concern as these possibilities ran through his head. It was nearly impossible for Ganondorf to keep himself from laughing while Harkinian's imagination tortured him, and if he could keep this up for a few weeks, the King was sure to try using the Triforce, since Zelda was unlikely to reappear any time soon. But then it was Ganondorf's turn to be surprised when the King suddenly turned to the shrine and pushed a hidden switch.

"I know someone who might give us some insight." He explained as the shrine began to move. "You have been a good friend to me these past few months, Ganondorf, so I feel safe enough to use the Triforce of Wisdom while you are here."

The sorcerer's mouth hung open in pure shock that King Harkinian would do such a thing, at least this quickly. Ganondorf had created a whole plan for spending as much as a month filling the King's head with a mixture of calm and anxiety until he was at the breaking point, but as the shrine with the sleeping other Zelda slid across the floor to reveal a hidden compartment, he couldn't help but smile as he realized that this was no longer necessary. His head was filled with visions of how nice the shimmering green Triforce would look next to his red one, and of course he was going to have to break the King's neck in order to grab it, but then his fantasy was shattered when the shrine stopped moving to reveal… an empty compartment.

"What is this?" Ganondorf asked as he looked around inside.

"The Triforce of Wisdom!" King Harkinian shouted in horror. "It's gone!"


	5. Chapter 5 A Missing Triforce

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Five: A Missing Triforce**

Being careful to watch for any signs of more Moblins, Link and Agahnim escorted Impa through the forest toward the cave that they currently called home. It wasn't much, just a short tunnel with some tattered bedrolls near a fire-pit they had dug in the center. There were also a few small possessions scattered about; the remnants of what was bought with the last payment they had received for Links's _heroism_ , including the tea that Agahnim gave to the old woman to calm her nerves.

"Thank you so much." Impa said between sips. "Are you certain we will be safe here?"

"Safer than out there in the open." The robed wizard replied.

Link could agree with this, since now that they were under cover, there was only one way for more Moblins to attack from. This also meant that they would be trapped if they were discovered, but they had traveled a good distance into the Eastern Forest. The Moblins were tough, but they didn't seem very smart, so he doubted that they would search very far from the road… at least not for a while.

"You must get a message to the King for me." The old woman continued. "For a long time, Princess Zelda has suspected that her father's new friend, Ganondorf, was up to no good, and she was right. The monster has kidnapped her, and intends to use her to get the Triforce of Wisdom from her father, but the Princess is no fool."

"Hold on a second." Link interrupted as he sat down to join them. "Are you telling me that someone actually _kidnapped_ the Princess of Hyrule? As in… tied her up and carried her off? But how? The North Palace is swarming with guards… I know, we, uh, looked it over one time… for no reason."

"Right, we were, uh… traveling through there." Agahnim added. "So how did this Ganondorf take her without the King finding out? Not with those Moblins?"

"It was not done at the North Palace." Impa explained. "Zelda feared an attack, so she left in secret to get help from her friend, Prince Façade of Arcadia. A spy found the letter she left for King Harkinian, and ambushed us a few miles from where you found me. He hopes to worry the King into seeking guidance from the Triforce, but the Princess has always felt that her father was too trusting, so she got to the Triforce first."

The old woman coughed a little before taking another sip of her tea, and it was taking restraint for Link to keep himself from urging her to continue. The prospect of someone being able to attack and kidnap someone like Princess Zelda, while also having a horde of creatures like those Moblins at his disposal was a bit unnerving, but it was also a little exciting. Suddenly visions of defeating the monsters and rescuing the Princess began to envelope his imagination, this daydream nearly making him miss when Impa resumed the story.

"Everyone knows that Princess Zelda sent scouts into this part of Hyrule." She continued. "But what only _she and I_ know is that _one_ of those scouts was carrying the Triforce of Wisdom, with orders to hide it when they reached their assigned point. Every scout carried a locked chest that can only be opened by someone who knows the trick, but none knew what was inside, and not even _I_ know which scout it was."

"Then we need to warn the King at once." Agahnim said once she was finished. "The North Palace is only a few days from here if we use some of our reward rupees to take a carriage."

"A few days?!" Link exclaimed. "Agahnim, listen to yourself. If we go all the way back there, who _knows_ what this Ganondorf person will be doing to her in the mean time? _Anything he wants_ , that's what! We can get a carriage to send Impa back to the King, but I say you and me rescue the Princess ourselves."

"You can't!" Impa warned. "It was a very noble gesture, but as I fled, I heard Ganondorf say that he was taking her to Spectacle Rock, and if so, then you must never go there. You see, he is in possession of the Triforce of Power, and if that is where he keeps it, then facing him within those walls would be like challenging a _God_. So even if you could get there, you would be lost without the other Triforce, and as I said, only _Zelda_ knew where it was hidden."

"Then that settles it." Agahnim agreed. "The only thing we can do is help Impa get back to the King so that she can tell him what happened."

The arguments from the two of them made sense, but at the same time they frustrated Link, and he was having trouble hiding that fact. Everyone in Hyrule knew about the two Triforces, so he understood how dangerous someone could be if they found the long lost Triforce of Power, but at the same time Princess Zelda was in danger. Aside from rescuing her on their own, everything they could do would just put her life at risk, especially if during that time, Ganondorf found out what the Princess was up to.

"Fine, so we warn the King, and then what?" Link continued with an irritated tone. "He sends his Army to rescue her, and Ganondorf can see them coming a mile away. Or, what if during the time it takes for us to get there, explain what happened, and organize the Army in the first place, he discovers what she did with the Triforce? Then he has plenty of time to torture the location out of her, and what will happen if he has _both_ Triforces when the Army gets there?"

"So what do you think we should do, Link?" Agahnim replied with his own irritated tone. "Impa doesn't know where Zelda had it sent, and you may not have noticed, but there are a _lot_ of places in this part of Hyrule to hide something. In fact, we could spend the rest of our lives searching and never find it because we forgot to dig up the _one bush_ in the Lost Woods that it was hidden under."

"Calm down, both of you." Impa interrupted sternly. "Neither of you are wrong in your arguments, but each path carries a strong risk, so perhaps a compromise is best. I can narrow down your search for the Triforce of Wisdom, and if you can recover it without Ganondorf knowing, then if nothing else, at least he will never find it."

The old woman started to get a little choked up as she finished her thoughts, and now she was silent. It was obvious to Link that Impa was realizing just how much danger Princess Zelda was in no matter which decision they made, but maybe there was yet another compromise. Yes, he wanted to find the Triforce and rescue the Princess… but maybe they could do all that without Ganondorf even knowing that they were there.

"We can _sneak_ Princess Zelda out of Spectacle Rock." Link explained. "After we find the Triforce, we can find a way to get in without being spotted by the guards, and then we get out again the same way. Then we can go warn the King, and his Army can do the rest. Simple… as long as Agahnim will go along with me."

"Link, this is _serious_." The robed wizard replied. "I know you really want to be a hero, but just because we can defeat a handful of Moblins, does not mean that we are ready to climb Death Mountain. There are _Lynel's_ up there, Link, lots of them, especially in the west… and I have a feeling that up there is where most of the scouts were sent."

"Actually, you are wrong." Impa explained. "Hardly any of the scouts were sent into the mountains. In fact, if I remember correctly… one of them was sent to a place in this forest called Crescent Tower."

"The old watch on the hill?" Link asked. "Agahnim, that place is only a couple miles from here, and it's completely abandoned. We could go there, get the Triforce, and be back in less than a day."

The old woman was starting to look hopeful again, and why not? After all, she had probably been taking care of the Princess since the day she was born, and she would probably support any plan that got Zelda to safety. Agahnim, however, did not seem as convinced. Link's partner was a great wizard for his age, and a capable fighter, but he had a tendency to overthink certain situations, and the young man had a feeling that more of this was coming.

"Three things, Link." The robed wizard said. "One: You have no way of knowing whether or not the Triforce is in there. Two: Crescent Tower is abandoned because the place is about to fall apart. Three: Just because it's abandoned by _people_ , does not mean that the tower is empty."

"Fine, I will make a deal with you." Link answered. "Come with me to Crescent Tower, and if we can't recover the chest, I will forget all about this and go with you to warn the King. But if we _do_ recover it, then you agree to help me save the Princess. Deal?"

Agahnim hesitated for a moment when the young man offered his hand, but then the robed wizard sighed deeply before giving in. As much as he would try to deny it, Agahnim also desired to be a hero, even though his approach was different, and Link knew that once they recovered the scout's chest in Crescent Tower, his partner would be more than happy to continue on to the next location… wherever that was.

"Deal." Agahnim said as they shook hands. "But we go in quietly, disturb as little as possible, and get out just as quickly. Abandoned structures have a habit of attracting some of Hyrule's nastier creatures, and the last thing we want to do is wake a sleeping _Gleeok_ , or whatever is in there."

"Thank you boys for doing this." Impa replied, managing a smile for the first time since they met. "I only wish Hyrule had more young men like you two. Oh, if only we had made it to Arcadia, I am certain that Prince Façade would help, but it appears that it was not meant to be. If he were here, you success would be guaranteed, but if you are careful, you might still have a good chance."

"We'll do our best, Impa." Link said with the irritated tone returning. "Come on, Agahnim… we'll show her that Hyrule doesn't need some foreign Prince to save it."

"Stay here and rest." Agahnim said to the old woman as Link walked away. "I have a feeling that this will not take very long."

The robed wizard then vanished, reappearing so that he was walking next to Link just as he was leaving the cave to begin their journey to Crescent Tower.


	6. Chapter 6 The Triforce of Power

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Six: The Triforce of Power**

Spectacle Rock, a large fortress that had been a place of great importance and strategic value during the ancient days of Hyrule's war-filled past, spent more than three hundred years as an empty and forgotten relic. Created by repurposing a series of mining tunnels that ran throughout the western side of Death Mountain, and accessible only through a single hidden entrance, it was practically invisible. None of its structures could be seen from outside, and most modern citizens of Hyrule were unaware that it had ever existed in the first place, making it a perfect hideout for someone like Ganondorf, as well as the perfect prison for Princess Zelda.

And there she had remained since her capture; still in chains, with the leash around her neck attached to the armrest of the sorcerer's throne, while the shackles on her ankles were locked to the floor. This kept her kneeling right next to the stone chair just as Ganondorf had promised, but that didn't mean that she wasn't working on a way to escape. The sorcerer had been _very_ thorough in searching her, leaving the Princess with the peasant's dress she had been wearing as a disguise, but nothing else in her possession.

"Come on." She urged quietly while pulling on the chain. "Come on, break."

Obviously there was no way for her to break the chain, being that she had no tools or anything to work with, but maybe… just maybe the stone armrest it was attached too wouldn't be as well constructed. So she pulled, and pulled, but the stone structure held fast, with Zelda's own strength being what gave out first. Taking deep breaths as a result of the strain, she smacked the stone floor out of frustration, causing an empty echo to resound around the chamber. The sudden sound startled her for a moment, since she was alone, and up until that point everything had been silent.

The chamber was illuminated by wall-mounted torches that used magical fire, a common sight in Hyrule, and preferred since they never burned out. These torches cast a soft yellow glow across the smooth white stone of the throne room, and in this large area, there was only one other feature: A stone pedestal, elaborate in design, and about as tall as a man, but it was what the pedestal held that was important. It was a shimmering red pyramid-shaped object, whose red glow was far more intense than the torches as it floated upside down barely an inch above its place on the pedestal.

"I do not suppose that _you_ know how I can get out of here." She said to it. "Do you?"

" _Indeed, I do_." The Triforce of Power replied in a deep and sinister voice. " _But you are too weak to break the chain. This is why Ganondorf will rule this land, while you remain chained to his throne_."

Through the small amount of conversation that she had done with this thing, Zelda was starting to understand why her ancestors hid it so well. It was mean, and actually seemed to delight in feeding its power to Ganondorf, regardless of the consequences that Hyrule would face because of it. But in the end, what was one to expect? Its power, without the Triforce of Wisdom to balance it out, was free to do what it wanted; but uniting them was _not_ an option. An evil user like Ganondorf would just become more powerful, as wisdom could be used for evil purposes just as easily as power could.

" _Why not simply surrender to Ganondorf_?" The Triforce continued. " _With my magic augmenting his own, he is invincible, so your only choice is to marry him. As his Queen, you might convince him to show mercy to the people of this land, where as his concubine… you can do nothing_."

" _Concubine_?!" She yelled angrily, causing more echoes. "I am _Princess Zelda of Hyrule_ , you… you over-inflated… _triangle_! And when I get out of here, I swear that I am going to bury you in the deepest, darkest pit of Midoro Swamp where no one will ever find you again!"

With renewed strength, she resumed pulling against the chain attached to the throne; this strength fueled further by the laughter that came from the Triforce, following her last remark. It was times like this when she wished that her cousin, Lady Miranda, was there, as that girl had a… _talent_ … for opening locks that would have been a nice thing to have with her at that moment. Honestly, the girl was nothing but a petty thief who probably stole things out of boredom, but there wasn't much that Zelda wouldn't have given in order for her to be there.

" _Whatever is the matter, Princess_?" The Triforce of Power mocked as her efforts ceased. " _Your plans to escape will always fail, just as your ancestor failed to lock me away… but I would save my strength if I were you, for you see… your master approaches… slave_."

The Triforce was right, Ganondorf was approaching, announced by his heavy, echoing footsteps, and although her eyesight had recovered several hours before, she wished that it were still gone so that she wouldn't have to look at him. This sound got louder as he approached, and when the door to the throne room slid open, the Princess could hear the sound of more Moblins moving around out in the hallway. Those extra sounds stopped once the door slid shut again, and then Ganondorf came into view.

"Hello, _Darling_." He said as he approached. "I have had a difficult day so far, but it becomes easier knowing that _my woman_ is waiting for me at home."

" _Your woman_." Zelda scoffed. "Ganondorf, if I was your wife, I would _poison_ your tea."

The sorcerer chuckled a bit as he climbed the short staircase to the throne, sitting down once he reached the top, and stroking Zelda's hair as if petting a dog. The Princess moved her head to avoid his touch, but then he grabbed her by the back of the neck, and pulled her around in front of the stone chair. This made it a little difficult to breathe, since she was at the very limit of the movement radius of the chains, but instead of pulling further, he used his free hand to resume stroking her hair.

"I went to see your father today, _my love_." He continued while petting her. "And he was so _distraught_ by the disappearance of his daughter, that he decided to use the Triforce of Wisdom. I know, I thought it would take _months_ to get him to do that, and I was ready to break his neck to get it, but guess what we found when the compartment opened."

"I told you, Ganondorf." Zelda replied while looking away. "You will _never_ have the Triforce of Wisdom, and it will only be a matter of time until it is discovered what you have done with me. Then the combined Armies of Hyrule and Arcadia will crush your little horde, but if you free me right now and leave Hyrule forever, I will not have you pursued."

" _Idle threats from a frightened little girl_." The Triforce answered. " _She never made it to Arcadia, meaning that they know nothing of your plot._ "

"I agree." Ganondorf continued. "Zelda, you are a crafty one, which is one of the things I like most about you, aside from your legs, of course. However, while forming whatever grand scheme you have put into place to hide your Triforce, you forgot one thing… the fact that your father is, how can I put this kindly? An _imbecile_."

"What are you talking about?" The Princess asked. "Threatening my father will not make me give you the Triforce, it is too important, even to save him."

The sorcerer suddenly released his hold on her, allowing Zelda to breathe completely again as she moved back around to the side of the throne. As for Ganondorf, he did not seem angry at her resistance, nor even a little frustrated. Instead, he leaned back in the stone chair and laughed while putting his arms behind his head.

"Oh, _lover_ , you misunderstand me." He chuckled. "I did not harm or threaten your father in any way; in fact, just the opposite happened. He has ordered his Army, as in _all of them_ , to search for you and the Triforce all across North Hyrule. Now, North Hyrule is a big place, and it will take all of his Soldiers to cover it… so guess who has been ordered _by the King_ to search for you across the rural outskirts to the south."

Zelda gasped as she realized what this meant, and her confidence had been irreparably shattered. She wanted to say something back to this, but all that came out were a few coughing attempts at words that made no real sense. Her hands were shaking as well, and as much as she wanted to dismiss what he was saying, it made too much sense for it to be a lie. After all, her father trusted Ganondorf completely, and was known to accept offers of help whenever they came in.

"No." She managed to whisper as a tear ran down her cheek.

"It's true, my _sweet, sugary_ Zelda." Ganondorf explained. "Your father has named me a _General_ in the _Royal Army of Hyrule_ , and declared that all of my minions are now the _Auxiliary Force_ that I command. This means that my _little horde_ , as you call them, are now empowered by royal decree, to swarm across the outskirts and tear it to pieces… which they will do until the Triforce of Wisdom is mine."

" _Do you see how she trembles, Ganondorf_?" The Triforce of Power asked. " _Her sharp words have fallen silent… her angry eyes have been flooded… this is almost as pleasing as when her ancestor was put to sleep_."

The Triforce's laughter echoed throughout the chamber again, and it was soon joined by Ganondorf's. The Princess's composure was now almost completely gone, terrified and feeling sick about not anticipating the ignorance of her own father. Now those horrible Moblins and whatever else the sorcerer had with him would run free across the land, and who could guess what they would do to the people?

"Why are you doing this?!" Zelda screamed at the Triforce with tears streaming down her cheeks. "Why are you helping him?! I know my family hid you away, but please do not let this _monster_ destroy my Kingdom, I beg you! What do you want, an apology?! To be put back in the North Palace!? Give me the power to stop Ganondorf, and I will do _anything_ you want! Please help me, Triforce of Power, please! _Please_!"

" _What a change we have seen in you Princess_." The Triforce responded. " _First you were demanding… now you are begging… but if you were worthy of my power, it would be something to augment you, not something you need to survive. Again, this is why Ganondorf will rule, and you, Princess Zelda, will spend the rest of your life wearing those chains, whether you are his Queen or his slave_."

The laughter quickly resumed, and Zelda could only bury her face in her hands and she started sobbing.


	7. Chapter 7 Crescent Tower

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Seven: Crescent Tower**

Traveling a great distance through the northern part of the Eastern Forest, Link remained on guard in case more of Ganondorf's Moblins attacked. However, none appeared as the terrain became less flat, and he was getting bored by the time they reached the hills. This meant that the tower was close, but what the young man really wanted was more action. Agahnim was always so careful, and wanted to plan out everything ahead of time, including their staged robberies like the one they had done earlier. Link, however, was a man of action, and loved the idea of a quest like the one given to them by Impa.

To him, that was what a hero's life was all about; action, excitement, and traveling the world. The idea of never staying in one place was appealing to him, as was never settling down, and simply doing heroic deeds every day in order to make rupees and buy food. His robed wizard friend, though, had silly ideas about saving some of those rewards so that he could someday buy a permanent place to study his magic. Studying was fine, since magic was what Agahnim used in situations like the ones with the Moblins, but it was also incredibly boring.

"Is that it?" Agahnim asked, interrupting his thoughts. "There… up ahead."

Link looked through the trees, and there _was_ something on top of the hill up ahead; green like the leaves, but missing anything resembling a trunk. The two of them moved closer, climbing over large roots and ducking under fallen logs, until they reached it. The tall, stone structure stood higher than everything around it, but thick vines were growing all throughout, and its green color came from a combination of leaves and thick moss. Massive roots had also been growing around it, and in some cases had burst right through the stone in order to continue on their path.

"This should be easy." Link said as they looked at it. "Just teleport us to the top, and then we'll search for this chest on the way down."

"No teleporting." Agahnim replied. "Look at this place, Link, the roots have pulverized most of the base walls, and now it looks like they're the only thing holding it up. So if we reappear standing on the wrong spot, the whole thing might collapse."

Taking a second look at the old and neglected tower in front of them, there was no way to argue. For a moment he considered climbing up the outside wall, using the roots and vines as a kind of ladder, but Agahnim's way of thinking probably applied to climbing as well. The main entrance to the tower was right in front of them, at what was left of the base, and the door appeared to have long ago rotted away. This meant that they could just walk right in… but so could anything else that happened by.

"The front door it is, then." The young man said while taking out his boomerang. "All right, let's go find that chest."

Thanks to the windows and other holes in the wall, there was enough light to illuminate the entire first room when they moved through the doorway. Everything in this place smelled like dirt and moss, mostly due to the fact that there was so much around, but this was all that they saw. There were no Moblins waiting for them, much to Link's disappointment, as most of the first floor had collapsed under nature's assault, leaving them nowhere to go but up to the second level. More of the same awaited them as they reached the top of the stone staircase, with the exception of bits of rotted furniture scattered about.

"It's a shame they allowed a place like this to be forgotten." Agahnim commented as they moved into the next room. "The historical value alone would be enough to… Link, stop moving… _Link, stop_!"

With his friend's words becoming both quieter and more urgent toward the end, Link stopped in his tracks. He was about to ask what was going on, but then he saw the problem, and tried to stop breathing as well. It was a _Rope_ … not something to climb with, but a fierce yellow python that inhabited the darker parts of the forest. It also happened to be poisonous, but thankfully this one appeared to be sleeping, hence Agahnim's warning. It remained motionless, coiled up with its eyes closed, and the young man would have slowly moved away, if he hadn't seen the others.

They were all over this room, some of them on the floor, and others on what remained of rotted shelves and chairs. One bite of these things was known to cause severe pain and sickness, and neither of them wanted that, so they very carefully started back the way they came. So far their plan to retreat was working as step by step, they moved back toward the door. Maybe there was another way around, but Link had no more time to think about this when he accidently stepped on a piece of wood, making a loud _crack_ echo throughout the tower.

Suddenly the nearest Rope's eyes snapped open, and it was purely out of reflex that Agahnim was able to hit it in the face with a fireball when it leapt at them. The burning python shrieked as it fell to the floor, and now the _hiss_ of multiple stirring creatures could be heard around them. Being predators, the Ropes quickly moved to block their path, with even more pythons coming up the stairs from below, leaving them boxed in.

Link's response was to throw his boomerang, not as an attack, but as a distraction that flew above the pythons' heads. A good number of them leapt up in failed attempts to catch the flying weapon, but the distraction would not last long, so Agahnim grabbed his friend's arm before vanishing. There had been another door on the far side of the room, and this was their only option for escape, so he risked teleporting with Link, and thankfully the tower didn't collapse when they reappeared.

"Run!" The robed wizard yelled.

The boomerang returned to Link's hand a second later, and with it came the Ropes who had been chasing it, forcing the young man to follow his advice. The next room curved around toward another staircase, but the young man had to dive sideways to avoid another leaping python, causing him and Agahnim to separate. More Ropes were after him almost instantly, leaving him no time to even stand up, instead scooting and rolling across the floor to get away. Soon he was cornered, forced to use his boomerang as a sword to smack them away, along with a piece of metal that his other hand came across.

The pythons hesitated a bit once he started smacking them with both weapons, but there were so many of them, that he was completely surrounded by the time he was back on his feet. This tower must have been some kind of major nest for the creatures, and of course they had walked right into it, but that knowledge didn't help him when the creatures started becoming bolder because of their numbers.

" _Hechizo_!" Agahnim yelled.

There was a small burst of light on the floor in front of him, and when it faded, several of the Ropes had been replaced with gelatinous Bots, just like what had happened with the Moblin. Then the ropes, no longer recognizing the transformed creatures as their kin, swarmed over them, entering a feeding frenzy as the robed wizard repeated this spell a couple times. This sustained use of magic seemed to be taking its toll on Agahnim, since he was now sweating and breathing heavily, so Link ran over to his friend and pulled him by the arm to continue their escape.

Of course, escape was probably the wrong word for it, since the staircase took them to the third level of the tower instead of toward the exit, but _anything_ was better than being swarmed by those Ropes. However, the pythons seemed to give up when they reached the bottom of the stairs. Leaping off of them as if in pain, the creatures remained on the second floor, _hissing_ angrily at the two adventurers for several seconds before slithering away. The young man wasn't sure why this was happening, but whatever the cause, it gave the two of them a moment to sit down on top of the stairs before moving on.

"Good job being quiet, Link." Agahnim said while catching his breath. "Next time why don't you just ring the dinner bell?"

"Hey, we're still alive, aren't we?" He replied, also panting. "Boy, I thought I was a goner when they surrounded me… good thing I found this… _hey_ , look at this."

Now that he had a chance to examine the piece of metal he found on the floor, he discovered that it was no ordinary junk, but a small metal shield with the crest of Hyrule on the front. He figured that it must have belonged to a Knight or something back when this tower was in use, and it easily locked onto his forearm as if it had been made for him. Well, he had always wanted a sword and shield, and now he had achieved half of his goal, but he somehow doubted he would be lucky enough to find an old sword in this place as well.

"Good find, Link." Agahnim said sarcastically as he got up. "I'm so glad we came here today."

"Oh, will you lighten up?" The young man asked as he stood up and followed him deeper into the third floor. "The Ropes gave up, and who else but us could get past them, so the worst is over."

But the worst was not over… not by a long shot. Upon leaving the staircase and walking into the next room, the two of them discovered why the pythons had given up the chase. It wasn't because they were tired or outmatched… it was because of the massive and thoroughly armored three-horned beast that was standing in the center of the open chamber. Bones of several Ropes as well as another skull that looked human could be seen littering the floor around the beast's large feet, and it let out an annoyed grunt when it spotted them.

"How did something that big get up here without destroying the tower?" Link asked as they looked at it. "Oh well, let's kill it."

"Link, wait." Agahnim argued while grabbing his friend's arm. "That's a _Dodongo_ … we don't have anything that can hurt it… but it can sure hurt _us_."

The young man was getting so tired of being cautious, and he was sure that they could defeat the beast once they came up with a plan. Maybe they could lure it away, or maybe set some kind of trap, or… or maybe they wouldn't need a plan at all, once he saw what his friend was carrying inside the pocket of his robe. It was one of those exploding devices that he used so many of their rupees to make, and with the holes he had seen them make in solid rock, he was sure they would be effective on the Dodongo.

"Nothing to hurt it, huh?" He asked as he grabbed the device. "Let's see how it likes a taste of _this_."

"Link, no!" The robed wizard yelled as he tried to get it back.

But it was too late; the young man tossed the device at the beast, and as expected there was a powerful explosion of fire and smoke. The beast roared as it was engulfed, but then the whole tower started to shake as the roots and vines embedded in the walls began to move. No, it wasn't the plants that were moving… it was the walls, as if Crescent Tower had been shaken loose from the only things that were still holding it up.

They tried to make a run for it, but it was too late. Huge cracks were making their way across the walls and floor of the neglected tower, and then the floor fell out from under them. The levels of the tower collapsed one by one, starting from the top, and kicking up a cloud of dust that spewed out of the front entrance like a fog bank until there was nothing left to collapse. After being forgotten for hundreds of years, Crescent Tower had fallen, and all was quiet as the smoke slowly cleared.


	8. Chapter 8 The Prince and the Thief

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Eight: The Prince and the Thief**

 _My dearest Façade;_

 _I am truly sorry that it has been so long since we have last seen each other, but the situation in my Kingdom has become a dire one. My father is being manipulated by a sorcerer named Ganondorf, who pretends to be his friend, and you know how quick to trust my father can be. But while the two of them are getting on so well, my scouts tell me that Ganondorf's minions are gathering their numbers toward the rural south of Hyrule._

 _In truth, I fear that the wretch has only gotten close to my father in an attempt to get the Triforce of Wisdom, and worse still, it is rumored that he already has possession of the long lost Triforce of Power. I just know that if he succeeds, his hordes will invade my Kingdom, and with both of the Triforces under his control, not even the might of both of our lands will be able to stop him._

 _I plan to travel in secret to Arcadia, and I have sent this letter to you in advance in case I am discovered. I hope and pray that I will be able to explain all this to you in person soon, but if your men in the Lost Woods do not report sighting me within three days after you read this, you must assume that something has happened to me. Ganondorf is a bully and a brute, but he is not ignorant by any standard, so there is a good chance that I will not make it to you._

 _If I do not reach Arcadia, then you are the only hope for my Kingdom, and I beg you to find the Triforce of Wisdom, which I have ordered my scouts to hide. Enclosed in this letter is a magical compass that I have set to locate the Triforce. I am so sorry that I cannot explain more now, but know that I miss you terribly, and whatever happens to me… I love you, Façade._

 _Yours, always;_

 _Zelda_

"Oh, my word." Queen Facia said to herself as she dropped the letter. "When did you say my son received this letter?"

"Four days ago, your Highness." The servant replied nervously. "The Prince ordered me to keep silent about it, even from you, but when I discovered that he had left last night, I just had to say something."

The Queen nodded as she picked up the letter from the floor, and reread it a few times; more and more concern showing on her face with each time. The servant stood silent for a while, but then he cleared his throat, and very hesitantly took out a second letter from under his coat. The writing on the front of its sealed envelope read: _For my mother_ , and the Queen was just as hesitant as she took it.

"The Prince gave that to me for you, your Highness." He explained as she opened it. "He said to only show it to you if he did not return, but…

 _Dearest Mother;_

 _I know I promised you that my adventuring days were over, but a crisis has enveloped the land of Hyrule, and Zelda, the keeper of my heart, has begged for my assistance. A foul brute by the name of Gargamel or something has kidnapped her or maybe even worse, and by her own words, I am the only hero who is brave, good looking, and perfect enough to save her._

 _Yes, I know that you have never approved of Zelda, but if she is in danger, you must understand why I must go. I have also taken all of the ancient artifacts of our family to ensure my victory over this disgusting rogue, and by the time you read this it will have been far too late to stop me anyhow. I can't stand the thought of my Zelda being alone and scared, at the mercy of that monster, and will not stop until she is safe._

 _Either way, I suppose the cause of you seeing this letter will disappoint you; being that I either received a glorious hero's death in battle, or I defeated Gargamel, and Zelda is now my bride. Hopefully it is the second one, but either way, mother, know that I love you._

 _Your loving son;_

 _Façade_

"Oooh, that Zelda!" The Queen yelled as she tossed the letter down. "I knew that girl was trouble from the beginning, and now not only has she put my son in danger, but we may very well lose our ancient treasures as well… did he take all of them, Percy?"

"Yes, your Highness." The servant answered. "I discovered the vault open this morning, and it was all gone; the ring, the sword, everything."

The Queen sighed deeply as she turned to look out the window, and from this high up in the castle, she could see the long road that led toward Hyrule's Lost Woods. No doubt her son had taken his horse down this route, and if he had left the previous night, he would have easily reached the border between Hyrule and Arcadia by now. What troubled her the most was that he had taken all of the magical items from their family vault, where he had usually only taken one each time he went out.

The silver sword of his grandfather was usually all he needed, but to have taken the ring and the shield as well, would mean that he expected a lot more trouble than normal. But, as the letter said, it was far too late to stop him, and she could only hope that he knew what he was getting himself into.

 _Meanwhile, back in Hyrule…_

The town of _Port Hylia_ , named for its location on the southern shore of _Lake Hylia_ , was truly the largest, and possibly only _real_ center of population in the rural outskirts of Hyrule. Like any town, people moved back and forth between shops and small houses, children played outside, and visitors passed through. On top of being the shipping center for most goods that came in from the ocean through the connecting river, Port Hylia also offered an excellent view of both _Eagle Prison_ , which sat on an island in the very center of the lake, and _Snake Palace_ , which sat on a much closer island.

Eagle Prison was once a major center of punishment, where criminals from all over the Kingdom were sent to pay for their crimes, but after the last great war the Royal Family moved to the north, and now prisoners were sent up there to face both trial and punishment. This left Eagle Prison mostly abandoned, aside from a few Custodians, and was only accessible by a single bridge that extended from the mainland. Snake Palace, on the other hand, was very much in use, and was the home of the Governor who rules over the rural southern region of the Kingdom.

This town was also the current destination of a certain carriage that was traveling west from an area near the Eastern Forest… a carriage whose passengers were still recovering from a certain incident that had involved a mysterious young hero saving them from an evil Wizzrobe. Of course, both passengers were each dealing with the incident in their own way.

"Be reasonable, Miranda." The older passenger said to her. "We have both been through a shock, and I simply suggest that we try and reach the estate by tonight instead of stopping here."

"Nonsense, father." Miranda replied. "Carriages get robbed on the road all the time, but that young man fought him off, so there is no need to worry."

But it wasn't the young hero that Lady Miranda, cousin of Princess Zelda, was thinking about as she reassured her father of their safety. Her thoughts were, in fact, occupied with the other young man who had tried to pass himself off as a Wizzrobe for some reason. She smiled a little as she remembered him taking her into his arms and teleporting them both away before kissing her, but what she would never tell her father was how much she had enjoyed the experience. She had been shocked at first, but quickly relaxed and even held onto him until the kiss was over.

"That was nice." He had whispered to her with a smile.

She had found herself nodding just a little and smiling herself just before they shared another kiss that had been much more gentle and brief before he set her down. It was almost too bad that the green-suited hero had showed up, but thankfully her father had been so distraught by the encounter that he hadn't paid much attention. By this time the carriage had stopped, and Miranda quickly got out before her father could argue any more on the matter. Yes, she enjoyed visiting Port Hylia, and going around the shops as any young lady would, but this time she was there on business.

Well, maybe _business_ was the wrong word; more like an urgent errand for her favorite cousin, and according to the letter she had recently received, the entire Kingdom could be at stake. Having destroyed the letter so that no one could discover what she was up to, Miranda was about to check to make sure that the magical compass on her wrist was still pointing to Eagle Prison, when something caught her eye. It was a wanted poster that had been nailed to a nearby wall, and when she tore it down, it had a poorly sketched image of a dark figure along with the words: _Wanted, Blind the Thief… reward for capture, five thousand rupees_.

" _Master_ Thief." She corrected to herself while flawlessly snatching the purse from a passing nobleman. "But _five thousand_ rupees…I'm flattered."

Miranda giggled to herself as she crumpled up the poster and tossed it onto a junk pile, and now it was time to make her way to Eagle Prison, where Zelda told her that she had hidden something important that she wanted Miranda to keep safe. So she was checking the compass that had been enclosed in the letter, when three young man bumped into her hard enough to knock her down as they ran by. She easily spotted the front-runner of the group removing the compass from her wrist, and they probably expected her to call for help, but obviously they did not know who they were dealing with.

Jumping to her feet, she started running, not after them, but down another side street that was less populated. There she released the hookshot that was attached to her other wrist, sinking the grapple into the nearest rooftop. There was always the risk that someone would see when the hookshot retracted, and sent her flying over the building, but the risk was worth it to see the looks on the young men's faces when the girl they had just robbed landed gracefully right in front of them. Giving them no time to react, Miranda's hands moved with lightning speed as she took back her compass along with literally everything the three of them had in their pockets, and then just as quickly as she had arrived, she was gone.

Using her hookshot again to send herself flying back over the roof, she landed in the unpopulated alley where she started, leaving the three would-be thieves to face embarrassment when their pants fell down; the result of her stealing their belts at the last second. Now that she had retrieved the compass, and was several rupees richer, it was time to get back on track. Zelda needed her help, and after everything her favorite cousin had done for her, a little thing like breaking into Eagle Prison would be nothing for _Blind the Master Thief_.


	9. Chapter 9 Continuing the Quest

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Nine: Continuing the Quest**

As Crescent Tower crashed down around them, Link was certain that this was the end, and that the two of them were about to be crushed under several tons of mossy stone. But then, just before the final collapse, Agahnim grabbed onto him, and suddenly they were outside. This was good, since now they wouldn't be crushed within the falling tower, but the robed wizard was only capable of teleporting them a short distance, meaning that instead of being buried _within_ the tower… they were about to be crushed by its crumbling outer wall.

With no other options, the two of them took off running, and the whole forest seemed to shake when everything hit. A cloud of dust and smoke was kicked up, thicker than any morning fog bank, while the force of the final impact sent Link flying forward, and then everything went silent. Coughing as he sat up, the young man looked around while the smoke began to clear, and all he could do was stare stupidly at the destruction that had been caused. The tower was now a scattered pile of stones and rotten wood that formed a line most of the way down the hill, but he was thankful to just have survived.

"Agahnim!" The young man yelled, jumping to his feet. "Agahnim, where are you!"

Realizing that he did not seen his friend among the rubble, Link began a frantic search that took him running up and down the line of mossy blocks, climbing over stones, and struggling to lift up pieces of debris until finally finding him. The robed wizard was sitting against one of the larger stones at the very end; his robe covered with dirt and dust, and a look of annoyance on his face when the young man ran up to him.

"Agahnim!" Link exclaimed while catching his breath. "You're alive!"

"Link." The robed wizard replied as he slowly got to his feet. "What part of _be careful, the tower could collapse_ did you not understand? Was it the part where our footsteps _by themselves_ caused the whole thing to vibrate? Or was it when the walls started _cracking_ while we were running from the Ropes?"

The young man could only shrug as he tried and failed to hide the smile on his face. Honestly, he had been terrified when the Ropes chased them, and even more so when the tower collapsed, but the whole experience had also been really exciting too. Never before had he felt more like a hero than when he was fighting off the pythons with his new shield, and when he blew up that Dodongo with Agahnim's explosive, and this made him want to continue their quest even more.

"Agahnim, you need to relax." Link answered. "Yes, it was a little scary for a minute there… but we killed the monster, and we're both still alive, right?"

"Indeed." Agahnim said as he reached down for the nearest piece of rubble. "But we also didn't find this chest of yours, meaning that you blew up this tower and nearly got us killed for no reason. That being said, I'm going to give you _one_ chance to stop this ignorant quest, or else I'm going to beat you to death with this rock."

The young man had to admit that he was a little nervous by his friend's declaration, but then he stopped, gasping in surprise at the same time as Agahnim. For in the robed wizard's hand was not a piece of debris from the tower, but a small metal chest with a complicated lock, as well as the symbol of the Hyrule royal family. Both of them just stared at it for several seconds, and then Link let out a cheer of excitement.

"We did it, Agahnim!" He proudly declared. "We survived the tower, _and_ found Princess Zelda's hidden chest! That means we have to keep going, and rescue her like we agreed… after all, you gave me your word."

"Remind me to stop making promises." Agahnim replied as he examined the chest. "Well, there doesn't seem to be a way to open it without the key… and I've never seen a lock quite like this one before… let's get it back to Impa. Hopefully we get lucky and the Triforce is in here."

The both of them were tired and fatigued from the events that took place within Crescent Tower, so the journey back to their cave took a lot longer than it did on the way out there. In fact, it was late afternoon by the time they reached their destination. They got back just in time, too, since dark clouds had been gathering in the sky for the past couple hours, and as everyone who lived in Hyrule know: If it started raining, it was raining for the _day_.

Thunder crashed in the sky as they entered the cave where Impa was waiting for them, and thankfully the old woman had been considerate enough to prepare a meal for them as well. To Link, this meant two things, as it started to rain outside. First, it meant that having Impa around was a good thing after all, and second… it meant that she had believed that the two of them would be successful. So after a quick, and well needed meal of the stew she had made, Agahnim handed her the chest.

"Oh, this is _wonderful_." She said happily as she took it. "I just _knew_ that you boys would be able to bring it back… however, this chest is locked with the _royal seal_ , which means that only a member of the _royal family_ can open it. Zelda was always such a clever and careful girl, you know."

"Then what do we do with it?" Agahnim asked. "Take it to the King?"

"We're not going to the King, Agahnim." Link answered. "We don't know if the Triforce is even _in_ this one, so if we're wrong, not only is it a wasted journey, but we lose a lot of time."

"You are correct, young man." Impa continued. "Who knows what Ganondorf is doing to the Princess as we speak? There is no time to have this one opened now, so your only choice is to continue to gather the chests. However, I will only give you another location each time you succeed… in case you are captured by Ganondorf. Still… I wish there was a way to resolve this matter more quickly."

"There is." Agahnim suggested. "We can split up. We would be more vulnerable, but each of us alone would draw less attention, and I'm less likely to have a tower dropped on my head. So tell us where the next two are, and we can each head out in the morning."

"I think you're right, Agahnim." Link agreed. "I get so _angry_ when I think of our Princess at the mercy of anyone cruel enough to have an old woman hunted down… yes, we need to work more quickly… so tell us where they are."

"Very well." The old woman began. "One was hidden in the remains of _Lion Fortress_ , a ruined fort to the south of here. And the other was taken to _Lizard Mine_ , an abandoned source of precious metal in the _Lost Hills_. It was reported to the King last year that both of these locations had been badly neglected and should be considered dangerous… and I must warn you that the men sent to these places by Princess Zelda… did not return."

 _Meanwhile, on the shores of Lake Hylia…_

The rain was coming down in sheets, and along with the constant crashing thunder, was causing the people in the area around Port Hylia to seek cover from the storm. Everyone was closing the shutters on their windows and bringing animals into barns, leaving almost no one around to see the lone figure moving toward the bridge to Eagle Prison. Having discarded her traveling dress for the much more appropriate hood and trousers befitting a thief, Lady Miranda stayed low to avoid drawing attention to herself.

The mask over her eyes further protected her identity as _Blind the Master Thief_ , and apparently her disguise worked perfectly, since everyone thought that Blind was a man. This suited her, since she didn't care about fame or the glory that sometimes came with being a famous outlaw, she only wanted to steal things and get away with it. To accomplish this feat, she carried a few special items that she _may_ have taken from the vault in the North Palace during a visit to her cousin Zelda a number of years ago.

Along with her infamous hookshot, she carried a magical candle that could be turned on and off at will. There was also the _Skeleton Key_ , which only the King was supposed to have, since it could literally open _any_ door in Hyrule given enough time, and a special bracelet that allowed her to more easily solve the rare problems which required a more _physical_ solution. These tools had allowed her to commit dozens of unsolved thefts around the Kingdom, but _this time_ she was using them for an honorable purpose.

As she crossed the long bridge that led to the prison, Miranda sometimes had to drop down and hand off the edge to avoid being spotted by the guards. This was easy because of all the time she spent training for just this kind of situation, but it was still annoying that the prison guards weren't taking shelter from the storm like everyone else. Again, this was fine since she wasn't planning on using the front door, but rather, a seldom used side door that was actually located under the very end of the bridge.

So dropping down onto the rocky ledge where the bridge's supports were based, she took out the key, and it began to make a _whirring_ sound as it changed shape to fit the lock. The storm gave her plenty of cover until the lock clicked open, and a thunder crash masked the squeaky hinges as she opened the door and entered Eagle Prison.

 _Meanwhile, in the Lost Woods…_

Riding almost non-stop since leaving his castle in Arcadia, the white-armored hero known as Prince Façade, atop his faithful horse, _Perfection_ , had crossed the border into Hyrule, and headed in the direction that the magical compass sent to him by Princess Zelda pointed him. It began to rain shortly after, but the reddish colored trees of the Lost Woods gave him cover from most of the storm that followed.

"Onward, Perfection!" He yelled over the crashing thunder. "There will be no rest while my beloved is in _Gargamel's_ clutches!"

Driven by both his love for Zelda, as well as his hatred for the brute that dared to harm her, Façade was determined to find the hidden Triforce of Wisdom. Then, once the Triforce of Power was no longer a threat, he would see how well this _Gargamel_ character could do against his silver sword, magical shield, and blue ring of protection. It was sure to be a tough battle, but in the end the brute would be dead at his feet while the beautiful Zelda was safely in his arms where she belonged.

Eventually he rode beyond the Lost Woods, and was a little annoyed when the full force of the pounding rain matted down his long blonde hair. However, these were the sacrifices that were required by any great hero such as himself, but thankfully he would be out of the storm soon enough. Now, it had been a while since he had been in Hyrule, but if he remembered the geography correctly, the compass could only be pointing him to _Manji Estate_ , a sort of summer home for members of the royal family.

"Faster, Perfection, faster!" He called out as the shadow of the estate was revealed in a flash of thunder. "Onward to glory and the liberation of my Princess!"


	10. Chapter 10 Darknut the Overwhelming

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Ten: Darknut the Overwhelming**

Jumping down from his horse, Prince Façade was grateful to have a few moments of cover as he placed the large animal inside an empty stall of the nearby barn. It was raining even harder now, and it was odd that there were no other horses in the stalls, since candles could be seen in the windows of Manji Estate, meaning that _someone_ must be home. After all, it would be strange for the candles to be lit when everyone was out, being that a fire could start from even one of them being knocked over.

"Steady on, Perfection." Façade said while patting his horse. "The storm should pass soon, and then we'll be on our way."

It was a stroke of luck that the compass directed him to this place, being that it was where Zelda's cousin, Miranda and her father usually spent most of the summer months. Not only would this make it far easier to find what Zelda had hidden there, but once they were made aware of Zelda's situation, they were sure to provide him with food and a place to rest during what could possibly be a _very_ long quest. Thunder suddenly crashed again, letting him know that the rain wasn't going to let up any time soon, so the Prince was forced to make a run for the main house.

He was fond of Lady Miranda, and she was certainly a beauty, but as he kept his arms over his head to protect his hair from the rain, Façade knew that there was only room in his heart for Zelda. He only hoped that the girl wouldn't want to join him on the quest, being that she seemed to have a strange hunger for danger and excitement. Perhaps he should only share the details of the whole dreadful business with her father, and then when Princess Zelda was finally rescued, her cousin need not know that she was ever in any danger in the first place.

"Hello?" He called, knocking hard on the door upon reaching it. "Lord Rul? Lady Miranda? It is I, Prince…

His words stopped as the door slowly swung open in response to his knocking, but there was no one behind it. Inside, the whole house was dimly lit by candles, allowing him to see that no one was moving about. Not only did the Master of the house not appear to be present, but nor were any of the servants. Perhaps everyone was asleep, and he was just about to quietly enter, when there was another crash of thunder, allowing him to see something in the flash of lightning that followed that made him gasp. The lock on the door had not been merely left unlocked… but the lock itself had been broken off as if the door had been rammed.

"Miranda!" The Prince yelled, drawing his silver sword while barging into the house. "Miranda, where are you?!"

Regretting that he had left his magical shield on the horse, Façade dared not go back to the barn to get it, in case it gave whoever dared to accost this house time to escape. Even without it, he still had the sword and ring, meaning that he was more than a match for any ruffians who… what was their plan, anyway? _Robbery_? _Kidnap_? _Murder_? Zelda would _never_ forgive him if he allowed something to happen to her favorite cousin, so he moved through the house, going room by empty room, searching for any sign of her. It was almost impossible to see in the candlelight, but now that he was looking, it appeared that the house had been searched. So it was robbers, after all.

The Prince had just gone back into the hallway after investigating a guest room, when he couldn't help gasping as he stopped in his tracks. There was a large figure at the end of the hall, shadowed by the flickering candlelight, but he was certain that it had not been there before. Then it moved, causing him to jump a little, but he quickly regained his composure. Well, at least now he knew that there _was_ an intruder in the house, but there was still no sign of the occupants. He was starting to get worried that Miranda had been taken away just as Zelda had, but she would not be a captive for long.

"Hold there, intruder." Façade warned while pointing his sword. "I am Prince Façade of Arcadia, and I _demand_ to know what has befallen the owners of this house. I was taught to rule with mercy, so if you free them now, you may go on your way without incident. But be warned… if you have harmed Miranda in _any_ way… you will _not_ be spared my blade."

"Oh, how _adorable_." The figure answered with a deep, empty voice. "The _handsome hero_ has come to vanquish me. And what a fitting name… _Façade_ … flee while you can, _boy_ , or it is _you_ who will not be spared."

The whole house seemed to vibrate as the figure began to advance, and there was also the sound of squeaking metal, meaning that this person was wearing a heavy suit of armor. He was armed as well, raising a dark sword with one hand while holding a shield defensively with the other, but the Prince had no intention of backing down. So he attacked, advancing toward his enemy while swinging his silver sword, but this dark armored knight, or whoever he was, possessed a lot more skill than Façade realized. Easily deflecting his strike with the sword, the armored knight immediately struck the Prince with his shield, sending him stumbling back several steps before falling on his rear.

"I told you to flee, _boy_." His opponent continued. "You are no match for _Darknut_ _the Overwhelming_ , so run away like the _coward_ you are, or I will stop holding back."

"I am no coward." The Prince replied as he scrambled to his feet. "You have _one_ last chance to disclose Miranda's location and leave this place… or _I_ will stop holding back."

Darknut responded to this by laughing as he advanced again, so Façade advanced as well, their swords clashing as they met halfway. It was difficult to attack the knight while also avoiding being bashed again by his shield, but the Prince had an advantage as well. He was wielding his sword with two hands, enabling him to make more powerful attacks than someone who was only holding his sword with one, but there his advantage ended. _Overwhelming_ was a perfect word to describe this battle, since the knight showed no sign of fatigue no matter how many times their weapons clashed, and Façade found himself being driven back no matter what he tried.

In a desperate move, he tried to throw the knight off balance by making an attack toward his armored feet, but his attempt failed. Darknut blocked with his shield before bringing up his heavy boot to strike the Prince in the chest, knocking him down once again. As before, Façade started to get up, but this time the knight swung his sword, making the Prince cry out as it tore through a piece of his armor. If not for the protecting power of the ring, his arm might have been sliced off completely, but instead he just got a nasty cut that caused him to fall over sideways. The knight attacked again, but Façade turned his fall into a sideways roll, that allowed him to escape while the sword cracked a floor tile.

There was no way for him to run away from this fight, not without knowing whether or not Miranda was safe, so instead of running out the front door when he got to his feet, he scrambled up the nearby staircase. Darknut was clearly amused by this, his empty laughter echoing as he followed, but his heavy armor slowed him down, allowing the Prince to reach the top of the stairs before the knight had even reached them. It was nice to have a little extra time to think, but when the knight's heavy footsteps began to thump up the stairs, Façade realized that he had gained no advantage by heading up there.

"Yes, _coward_ , run away." Darknut taunted. "I do not know who this _Miranda_ is, but if she is important to you, then I shall make a point to punish her for your interference with my search."

There was no reason for the knight to lie at a time like this, which meant that he probably didn't have Miranda or her father after all. This was good news, but it didn't help the Prince very much as the knight's steps got closer and closer. There was nowhere to run, and with his injured arm, he was no match for Darknut in a fair fight… but maybe he could find a way to make this fight a little more _unfair_. There was only time to think up a single, and probably foolish plan, but it was all he had. So looking around for a small piece of furniture, his eyes landed on a wooden stand with a large expensive vase on top of it.

Sheathing his sword, Façade picked up the vase, and if he thought about how ridiculous his plan actually was, he would have talked himself out of it, so he decided to just act. Darknut was on the last step before the top, when the Prince screamed and ran at him with the vase held above his head. Of course, the knight blocked it, but the shattering vase, along with the item inside of it, was enough to distract the knight while the Prince rammed his shoulder into the armor. It was also enough to make Darknut lose his balance, making him tumble backwards down the stairs while the house echoed loudly with each hit.

The knight sent cracks spreading out to a dozen floor tiles when he finally landed on his armored face, but by this time Façade had already drawn his sword and followed. With a mighty yell and the last of his strength, the Prince leapt down the last few stairs with his sword pointed down so that it was Darknut's turn to cry out when the silver blade sunk into his back. The knight flailed around and screamed in agony, but the sword had him pinned, allowing Façade to start catching his breath as he slumped against what was left of the stairs.

" _No one_ calls me a coward, you peasant." He said as the knight slowly got weaker. "I am Prince Façade, and when I become _King_ after rescuing Zelda, I will mount your helmet above the North Palace gate for everyone to see what a _weak_ and _pitiful_ enemy of the Crown you really were."

Truthfully, Darknut was the best that Façade had ever fought, but no one else needed to know that, and the Prince was just about to get up, when he saw the item that had been hidden in the vase, sitting on the floor next to the fallen knight. It was a small chest with the emblem of the royal family. Groaning as he checked the compass mounted on his sore arm, the Prince saw that the arrow was pointing right at it, meaning that this must've been what Zelda wanted him to find. So he took it into his possession, and then the compass's arrow turned in another direction.

"Great, another one." He grumbled to himself as he leaned back on the stairs. "I shall find it as well, and then rescue you, my darling Zelda… but first… I need to take a short rest."


	11. Chapter 11 Eagle Prison

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Eleven: Eagle Prison**

There was always a slight risk of being discovered immediately after breaking into any kind of building, especially when the person breaking in has never been inside before. Thankfully there was no one around to sound the alarm when Miranda came in through the hidden entrance, but this also meant that no one was currently using this part of the prison, meaning that it was very dark inside.

A tiny amount of light came in through the cross-shaped windows along the walls, and the flashes of lightning from the storm gave her brief glimpses of what each of the rooms looked like, but more light was required if she was to check the compass. So she took the magic candle out from under her cloak, and once activated, the whole room was bathed in dim orange light. This proved to be enough for her to see, but it was also enough to disturb the slumbering creatures that also occupied this room.

Bats... dozens of bats that Miranda hadn't noticed as they slept upside down on the ceiling, suddenly came to life. Startled by the light, they panicked, letting out squeaks as they flew around the room. Startled herself by this, Miranda nearly let out a scream, but muffled it by putting her hand over her mouth while deactivating the candle. She then ran out of the room as the bats kept this up for about a minute before eventually flying out the small windows.

This small crisis had passed, thankfully, without alerting anyone on the upper levels to her presence, but she still needed to check the compass, and the flashes of lightning didn't last long enough for her to see. Thinking about this for a second, she decided to use a different approach. If the candle was going to scare any bats that were in these other rooms, then she would just have to hide the light somehow, and this was accomplished by kneeling down and putting her cloak over herself like when a child uses a lantern to read under a blanket.

The compass pointed down the hall she was already heading down, and no more bats had been bothered by her new method for using the candle, so she continued down the hall, and it ended at the stairs to the surface level. It had been her hope that Zelda's scouts had hidden the chest in the sublevel, but no, it was never _that_ easy. It would be easy enough to sneak past the few live-in custodians and guards, but there was always the small risk of getting caught.

"Don't worry about that now, Miranda." She said to herself. "Zelda needs you."

Yes, helping her cousin was more important that the risk of getting caught, so she made her way up the stairs, to the surface level where there was some more light. There wasn't much more; random torch along the wall giving off just enough illumination to see the shadowy shape of everything in each room, but so far there was no one else around. Now the compass was pointing her at a solid wall, so she had to find a way around.

"So then the missus says _'don't you bring that in here'_." A voice said as she looked around the corner. "And then I says back _'fine, if we're barring animals from the house, then your brother can't come in either'_."

There was some laughter at the end of this story, and as Miranda moved down the hallway, so found the source. There were some older men sitting at a small wooden table in the center of the biggest room she had seen so far, and with them were men wearing armor. No doubt these were the custodians and guards assigned to the prison, but since they were engaged in conversation, and the compass was pointing down another hallway, this was good news. So she was about to head down the next hall, when there was a knock on the door.

The sound was coming from the large wooden door on the far side of the room, so Miranda ducked out of sight while the two guards got up to answer the door. It took a minute to unbar it, and once it opened, there was a little hooded man standing there in the pouring rain. He was alone, and didn't appear to be especially threatening, since he had been completely soaked by the storm.

"Who are you?" One of the guards asked. "What are you doing out here?"

"I beg your pardon, sirs." The hooded man replied. "Goriya is my name, and I seek only shelter from the storm."

"Hey, wait a second." The second guard said as he looked past Goriya. "Where's the other guards?"

That was a good question, since Miranda remembered having to avoid at least four patrolling guards when she tried to cross the bridge, but when she looked past everyone, she didn't see anything. Even during the next lightning flash, all she was able to see outside was an empty bridge.

"You need not worry about the others, sirs." Goriya continued politely as he stepped into the doorway. "In fact, you shall be joining them very soon."

The guards and custodians looked confused by this remark, but then everything became clear when he reached under his cloak and took out a boomerang, which he immediately tossed. The weapon flew through the air, making the first guard cry out as it struck his forehead with a loud _crack_ , and it was back in Goriya's hand before anyone could even move. The second guard was just starting to reach for his sword, when he screamed as the hooded man brought the tip of the weapon across his eyes as if it were a blade.

The guard kept his hands over his eyes, and blood was dripping between in fingers as he fell to his knees. Now the custodians were realizing that they were under attack, so they jumped up to run away, but Goriya had other plans for them. Tossing his boomerang, the weapon skipped under the table like a rock across the water, striking the first custodian in the back of the legs. This caused him to fall, reflexively grabbing the other two in an attempt to catch himself, in turn making all three of them fall on their faces.

"Three in one shot." The hooded man said to the still screaming guard. "Impressive, wouldn't you say, sir?"

He stood there as if waiting for the guard to praise his skill, but then must have run out of patience, because the hooded man suddenly did an overhand swing with the boomerang, stopping the guard's screams as the weapon penetrated the top of his skull. Goriya then reached up and removed his hood, showing that he wasn't a man, but a rodent-like creature with large ears, an elongated snout, and blue fur. Ripping his weapon out of the guard as if it had been stuck in a tree, the rodent now turned his attention to the stunned custodians.

"Thank you so much for sheltering me, sirs." He said as he walked toward them. "Now, I am looking for something that might have been hidden by a royal scout recently. Nothing? No one like that came through here recently? Perhaps I can help you remember, sirs."

It was tempting to use them for a distraction so that she could find the chest, but Miranda was by no means heartless. When Goriya raised his weapon to strike the first custodian, she came out of hiding and fired her hookshot. This was enough to distract him, but he also saw it coming at the last second, which allowed the rodent to smack the hook away. Well, her sneaking plan was destroyed, but at least the rodent's attention was off the older men.

"Who is that?" One custodian asked as her hookshot retracted.

"It's Blind!" Another exclaimed. "I saw his wanted poster, and… he saved us!"

"Run for your lives!" Miranda ordered in her deepest voice possible to protect her identity. "Get out of here!"

The rodent's attention was now fully locked on her, even so far as not stopping the older men as they ran out into the storm. Once they were gone, however, Goriya started moving again, starting with throwing his weapon at Miranda. She dove out of the way, into the same hallway where the compass was directing her, so she got up and kept running, hoping to avoid a fight. Sprinting, she ran past old jail cells and torture chambers, randomly turning down hallways and ducking through small rooms in an effort to lose the creature. But then there was a _whoosh_ just before his weapon hit her in the back of the legs.

Letting out a startled gasp as she fell forward, Miranda hit the stone floor _hard_ before sliding to a stop. She was just starting to get up, when the rodent leapt onto her back, knocking the wind out of her. Normally this was where her magical bracelet would give her the strength to deal with this kind of thing, but Goriya was too fast, pinning her wrists behind her back and pushing them as far up as they would go, making her cry out again.

"A girl?" The rodent asked as he restrained her. " _Blind the Thief_ is a _girl_? Then I wonder… is she pretty as well?"

The rodent needed one hand to reach for her hood, and that was the moment she had been waiting for. Twisting free of his grip, she rolled over onto her back and shoved him away; the bracelet pulsing, and giving her the strength to send him flying several feet down the hall. The rodent crashed into a nearby table, giving Miranda time to get up and run again, and she was just entering another large room, when the rodent leapt onto her back again.

Knocked onto her stomach, she was about to try and escape, when Goriya put his weapon under her throat. With a hand on each end, he pulled back on it while sitting on her upper back, making Miranda gasp for air as it choked her. This time he had her pinned in such a way that it was impossible for her to escape, and now she was starting to weaken.

"You look a little out of breath, dear." The rodent said happily. "You go to sleep now, and when you wake up…

Suddenly the room was filled with dim light, and then Goriya screamed as he saw that it was a huge sphere of energy coming right at them. It just barely missed Miranda's head, and then she was able to breathe again as the rodent exploded. There was heat and blood, but now she was free, and purely out of reflex, she rolled behind a pillar to avoid the next sphere that came for _her_. Coughing and wheezing, she dared to see where it was coming from, and saw to her horror that it was an _Aquamentus_. The single-horned dragon was chained to the wall, and it sent another sphere of energy at her when she looked at it, but this was not the worst part.

The worst part was that the chest she was seeking, perfectly illuminated by the light from its energy, was sitting right behind the creature. This was not good; she was weakened from the scuffle with Goriya, and it was only a matter of time before those custodians came back with guards, so she needed to do something fast… and then she remembered the rodent's weapon. Reaching out and retrieving the boomerang, she pulled it to her just in time to avoid another attack, and then she threw it. Not at the creature, but toward the other side of the room, and as she hoped, the Aquamentus attacked it.

The weapon exploded once it was hit, and this gave Miranda a single chance to get the chest. Coming out of hiding, she fired her hookshot, the grapple at the end latching onto the chest, and pulling it back to her. The creature roared in rage at what had just happened, and Miranda was just barely able to dive out of the room before the next sphere hit. Scrambling to her feet as more spheres of energy destroyed the nearby walls, she tucked the chest under her cloak and ran toward the exit.


	12. Chapter 12 Den of Thieves

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Twelve: Den of Thieves**

The funny thing about the weather in Hyrule was that if it was sunny outside, it was going to be sunny for at least a few days, and the same stood for when it was raining. The storm continued on through the night, and the next morning when the sum came up, the sky was covered with thick black clouds that showed no sign of breaking up any time soon. This also meant that there was no point in waiting to go after the next chest, so Link tried not to wake the still sleeping Impa as he gathered his things. Agahnim was nowhere to be found, aside from a note on his bedroll that read: _Went to Lizard Mine_ , meaning that the young man's destination was what the old woman called _Lion Fortress_.

He was familiar with the place, and knew where the only entrance was, but it was not a place that he would consider a fortress… well, at least not in the traditional sense. Maybe once upon a time it was something grand, but these days it was nothing but a ruin that had become so overgrown that it made Crescent Tower look like it was in pristine condition… before he and Agahnim destroyed it, that is. There were a few pieces of the old stone walls left, but only because they were held up by the large trees whose trunks and vines had wrapped around them, creating a massive wall of trees that could almost be missed entirely if someone didn't know what to look for.

Managing to get dressed and ready without disturbing the old woman, Link was thankful to have his hat as he stepped out of the cave, but soon it was soaked along with the rest of him, leaving no point to it. Thankfully the fortress in question was only a short distance to the south from the cave, but the bad news was that it had been taken over by a gang of thieves a few years ago, and was now a major base for them. This was also why Agahnim had chosen the other place, since he looked nothing like the sort of person who would be found inside, whereas Link looked almost exactly like them.

Moving deeper into the forest, the thick canopy of leaves gave him a break from the pouring rain, but it also meant that he was getting closer to the fortress. He wasn't worried about being recognized, since thieves from all over southern Hyrule passed through there to offload stolen goods, and usually just knowing the way to get in was enough to prove that you were okay to be there. So after about fifteen minutes of walking, he came up to a very large and thick copse of trees that didn't look like anything special, aside from how big around it was. The entrance was to the far south, so he made his way around, and came to a large stump that was just kind of sitting against the edge of the tree wall.

Pushing it to the side with all his strength, the roots and vines attached to it had just enough give for it to reveal a tunnel that had been cut right through the trees behind it. This was also how the entrance stayed hidden after it was used; those same roots and vines pulling it back into place once he had crawled into the tunnel. He was already soaked, so he didn't mind crawling across the damp ground, and now that he was inside, he had to come up with a plan. Assuming that the next chest looked just like the first one that he left with Impa, he would have to act like a potential buyer, and just kind of browse around until he found it.

It was a simple plan, but probably also the most likely to work as he neared the end of the tunnel, so all he needed to do was act like it wasn't doing anything wrong, and this would be easy. Finally the tunnel ended, and Link was annoyed by the return of the falling rain as he crawled out of it, but then he forgot all about both the rain _and_ his plan when he got to his feet and saw what was waiting for him. There was no one… well, there were people around… in fact they were all around the fortress… but they were all dead. A perfectly times lightning flash revealed to him that all of the thieves, men and women, were dead; their bodies on the ground, with faces twisted into expressions of horror.

This was unsettling to say the least, as was the fact that all of them were armed, with their weapons laying on the ground next to each one. It also appeared that most of them had died in different ways, some stabbed to death while others appeared to have been crushed. Another crash of thunder made the young man jump, and then his brain finally began working; telling him to find cover before whoever or _whatever_ killed all those people came back. There were a few stone rooms still standing, so he ducked inside what was left of one, with the body on the floor telling him that he was not the first to seek shelter there.

Nothing appeared to be moving when he looked back out into the main area from behind the crumbling wall, but the falling rain made it a little hard to listen. Of course, there was the chance that whoever had done this was long gone, and he started to believe this after several more minutes of nothing happening. Hopefully this was the case, and hopefully they didn't find the chest he was after when they left, because he had no other way to find it. The young man was about to begin searching, when his eyes fell upon a beautiful steel sword. Something like that would probably be more effective than his boomerang if the killers were still there, but he also felt kind of awkward taking the weapon from a dead man.

Another flash of lightning helped him make up his mind when it revealed the shadow of someone tall standing behind him, so he reflexively grabbed the weapon, spun around, and then felt like a fool when he saw what he was pointing the blade at. It was a stone statue, quite a bit taller and wider than him, but it was its shape that had startled him like that. It was shaped like a knight with a horned helmet, wielding a shield and spear, and the body became a flat round base just below where the legs started. It must've been a new acquisition, because Link didn't remember seeing it the last time he was there, but then again that was quite some time ago.

Tapping the statue with the tip of his newfound sword, the young man was relieved when it made the _tink-tink-tink_ of solid stone. Jumping again as thunder crashed, he quickly looked around to make sure that no one was sneaking up on him, but then he froze when he heard a low rumbling sound from next to the statue. Turning back toward it, he expected to be attacked by someone behind it, but then his mind barely registered that the statue itself was suddenly moving. If Link had not flailed his arms out of fright at that exact moment, the statue's spear would have pierced his heart during its sudden attack, but instead it impacted the small shield, knocking the young man off his feet.

Link tried to keep his balance, but the force of the blow along with the wet terrain made this impossible, and he found himself on his back just as the statue seemed to leap into the air. With just barely enough time to roll out of the way, the whole place shook when the statue landed, and the young man swallowed hard as he realized what had happened to the people there. The stone knight wasted no time in continuing the attack, swinging the spear sideways, and the young man felt a stinging sensation across his face as he rolled away again. This time not stopping until he was a good distance away, he scrambled to his feet, and found blood on his hand after touching his cheek.

This angered him, and he was about to attack the statue as it seemed to bounce its way toward him, but then he remembered all of the people, _dozens_ of people there who had been killed by this… whatever it was, even though they were armed and outnumbered it. So Link backed off, and while the statue was slowly chasing him, he constantly scanned the area to find something that might be more effective. However, none of the blades or clubs that he found seemed like they would do much against this kind of enemy, so all he could do was keep retreating from it until he got to the very back of the open area, where a strange scene awaited him.

There was a man, not stabbed or crushed like the others, but dead just the same. He was hanged, obviously from the rope around his neck, but his arms and legs were anchored to the ground by other ropes on some kind of pulley system. Whatever this was all designed to do, it must have been awful, judging by the strangled look on the man's face, and the other remarkable thing about this was that he was naked. All of this together meant that either this man had made everyone here really, _really_ angry, or he wasn't supposed to be there in the first place. Meanwhile, the statue was getting closer, so Link was about to move on, when he noticed one final thing behind the dead man.

There was a suit of armor behind him, in pieces as if it had been carelessly thrown there after being pulled off of him. There was also a sword, a small shield like the one Link wore… and a small chest with the emblem of the royal family. He was about to go for it, but was stopped when the statue tossed its spear, landing right in front of him. The young man grabbed the weapon, but the statue stopped him from using it by grabbing the spear with one hand, and backhanding him with the other. The blow easily knocked him down, and he was just barely able to avoid the next stab of the statue's spear.

This time Link grabbed the weapon and kicked at the statue in an attempt to throw it off balance, but only succeeded in hurting his foot. The statue then dropped its shield in order to grab him by the ankle, making the young man scream as it effortlessly tossed him through the air. He collided with the hanging man, who had obviously been the scout sent by Princess Zelda, and the impact had enough force to knock the rope off of the branch that had been suspending both it and the scout. Link kept going until he crashed into where the armor had been stored, but the scout's body fell on top of the pursuing statue, distracting it long enough for the young man to grab…

It was only going to take a moment for the statue to free itself from the body and falling ropes, so Link had to make a choice. He had never been one to run from a fight, so his first thought was to grab the scout's armor to use while he found a way to defeat this monster. On the other hand, though, everyone laying on the ground had also tried to fight, and there was more at stake here than his pride. Besides, he could always get one of those explosives from Agahnim and come back, so he grabbed the chest and ran. He could hear the statue giving chase almost immediately, and now it was moving _a lot_ faster than before.

It was getting closer, and the ground was so slippery from the rain, but the young man didn't look back as he sprinted toward the small tunnel he had used to come in. Clutching the chest, he dove for it, sliding into the long tunnel just before the statue was going to reach him. Now he could hear leaves rustling as it stabbed with its spear, and branches snapping as it continued to jump after him. Thankfully it slowed the statue down enough for Link to reach the end of the tunnel, and after pushing past the stump that blocked the entrance, he took off running through the forest while the statue still tried to get through.


	13. Chapter 13 Lizard Mine

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Thirteen: Lizard Mine**

Preferring to get an early start, the sun wasn't even up before Agahnim ventured out of the cave. The storm was still raging on, and would probably keep up for at least another day or two, so there was no point in waiting any longer. He had been unable to sleep, as his thoughts were occupied on how they were ever going to complete this little quest of Link's, but the bulk of his concentration was on that girl in the carriage that they had pretended to rob the other day. She was so beautiful, and smelled so nice that he hadn't been able to resist stealing a kiss like that… but when she returned the second quick one that they shared, his heart nearly melted.

"And you didn't even ask her name." He scolded himself as he moved away from the cave. "Brilliant, Agahnim… the prettiest girl in Hyrule likes you, and you didn't even ask her name."

The robed wizard didn't want to admit just how much he had been thinking about her lately, and how much he wanted to see her again, so a nice long run up into the _Lost Hills_ would probably help him get back his concentration. So he ran, moving much faster than he would be able to while traveling with Link, since his partner wasn't able to teleport like he could, so he was out of the forest, and climbing up into the Lost Hills of Death Mountain's eastern side just as the sun was starting to come up. His ability to vanish and reappear across short distances also allowed him to avoid a majority of the creatures that Link would have certainly wanted to fight, but Agahnim had no such desire.

The rain made the terrain more difficult to negotiate, since the grass and later rocks were both slippery now, forcing him to focus on the task at hand instead of that girl. The sun was getting higher in the sky, illuminating the land as he climbed higher into the Lost Hills, but the rain still did not stop. Everyone knew where Lizard Mine was, and sometimes children would dare each other to go down into the darkness. None of them ever did, just as he and Link dared each other when _they_ were children, but this also left him with the knowledge required to find the place pretty easily.

Luck seemed to be with Agahnim as he made his way up the hills without encountering any problems like he had with the Moblins, although in this place those creatures were the least of his worries. There could easily be _Octoroks_ , or even worse, _Lynels_ , but thankfully he did not meet either of these threats. The landscape was completely illuminated by the time he reached the top of the last hill, and there, carved into the face of Death Mountain, was the entrance to Lizard Mine. It was nice to finally get out of the rain as he stepped past the support beams that formed the archway, and now it was time to find that damn chest.

Total darkness awaited him within, but such things were no problem for a wizard who could produce flame from his hands. So he tossed a few fireballs into the blackness, and the outline of the tunnel was illuminated once they hit the ground. This had to be done every few feet, but the orange light allowed him to carefully make his way down the old mine cart tracks as the tunnel continued to descend. The robed wizard also kept a sphere of flame in each hand to better see the area closest to him, but so far there was nothing remarkable about this place. It appeared to be just a single, really deep hole where Hyrule used to get iron or something, and Agahnim was starting to feel silly for fearing this place as a boy, but then…

"And what do we have here?" He asked himself as the tunnel suddenly widened.

No, the tunnel didn't get and wider, it ended at an opening, and beyond was some kind of chamber. There were bricks on the ground from where the old miners had first broken through, but after throwing a few fireballs, the robed wizard saw that it was the only damage that had been done. The floors, walls, and ceiling were made from the same brick, and aside from being dusty, the place looked pretty pristine. A few more fireballs as he entered, allowed him to see that there were slots of some kind along the walls, and that was when he realized what this place was.

"A tomb." He said with a half-hearted laugh. "It's an ancient tomb."

Each slot in the wall was a resting place for whoever the skeletons laying on them had once been, but there was no way to know, since there was no writing. The bodies' flesh and clothes had long ago rotted away, leaving only a sword resting on each slab next to the bones. Agahnim was not in the habit of grave-robbing, so he ignored the weapons while moving across the chamber, but then stopped when a soft _clang_ echoed through the room when his foot touched something hard. Moving the fire in his hand closer to the floor, he saw that it was a knight's helmet… along with a trail of something dark.

"Blood?" He whispered as he touched it with his finger.

It made sense; Impa had warned him that the scout sent there by the Princess had not returned, and the helmet looked new enough to not belong in this place. But what had happened to him? Had his helmet been knocked off and the knight dragged away by… something? Aside from the sound of the flickering flames, and the noises made by himself, the robed wizard didn't hear anything at all. The blood trail continued across the floor and through another doorway before it became too dark to see again, and Agahnim was about to continue on, when a new sound reached his ears.

It was a voice… soft and weakened, but still a voice, and it was… calling for help? It was hard to tell with how the walls echoed, but if the person who left the blood trail was still alive, then maybe they could help him. So he hurried on, down a long hallway filled with more skeletons on slabs, and into an even larger chamber where a sarcophagus was set in the center. The lid was open, and there was a man inside who was nearly completely covered with wrappings, like a mummy, but unlike the skeletons, this was not someone who had died hundreds of years ago… and by the way the mummy shifted around, he was still alive.

"Help… me." The man said weakly as Agahnim approached. "Please… help."

"Hold still, I'll get you out of this." He replied as he examined the wrappings. "My name is Agahnim, I'm a wizard… can you tell me what happened to you?"

The man suddenly groaned as if in agony, and the wrappings pulled themselves out of the robed wizard's hands, wrapping more tightly around the man's body as they covered a bit more of his skin. It appeared to be slowly constricting around his entire body like a long snake, and Agahnim didn't know how to remove them without hurting him.

"I'm a scout, sent by Princess Zelda." He groaned with a pained voice. "You have to get out of here before… it's too late. I thought they wanted the chest, but they… really wanted me."

"Who wanted you?" The robed wizard asked as he looked around. "What are…

His words stopped as he spotted a pile of discarded armor on the floor, along with a small chest bearing the royal emblem, which had been dropped on the floor as if it were meaningless. So he walked over and picked it up, just tucking it safely under his robe, when the scout started moaning desperately. There was now a new sound in this chamber, a sort of rattling and shambling sound as something came up behind him. The scout continued to try and get his attention, meaning that it was bad, so Agahnim spun around while tossing the fireball from his hand.

There was a figure behind him, but the fireball struck it in the chest, exploding it into a hundred pieces. This was not what the robed wizard expected to happen, but it made sense upon closer investigation of one of the pieces. It was a leg bone, and judging by how many more bones were laying around, plus the skull, there was enough there to make a complete skeleton, complete with ancient sword laying on the floor near it. Suddenly he heard more rattling, and after throwing a few fireballs into the corners of the chamber, he was able to see that his attacker had been a skeleton, since a dozen of its friends were now getting off their slabs and shambling toward the chamber.

They rasped and held their ancient blades above their heads as they entered the chamber, slowly surrounding the robed wizard, but Agahnim was not about to die in a place like this. Tossing two fireballs, he scattered two of the skeletons as the rest advanced, but instead of waiting for them, he made the next move. Rushing toward the nearest one as it swung its blade, he ducked around it, grabbing the weapon while kicking the skeleton in the side of the leg, and then slicing its head off when it stumbled sideways. He then deflected the next one's slash before cleaving it in half, and tossed the blade at the next one, knocking its head off.

" _Hechizo_!" He yelled while holding his hands toward the next one.

Another skeleton was standing close enough to his target that they both vanished in a flash of light, replaced with gelatinous Bots, which the other skeletons immediately attacked. Now that they were gathered in a nice group, it was easy for the robed wizard to scatter the rest with fireballs, and after the bones and swords had finished falling, the tomb became quiet once again. Not wanting to wait for more to show up, Agahnim ran back to the mummified scout to get him out of there, but instead had to jump back to avoid getting slashed by his suddenly clawed hands.

"What the?!" He exclaimed as he looked at him.

The scout then sat up, and the robed wizard knew right away that something was very wrong. The man's skin was now covered completely by the wrappings, but his now glowing red eyes could be seen from under them as he slowly got out of the sarcophagus and stood up, arms outstretched as he advanced toward Agahnim. It was a strange and horrible thing that had happened to the scout, and suddenly the robed wizard was _very_ glad that he had never found the courage to enter this place as a child.

" _Grave robber_." He said with a deep and hollow voice. " _Join us_ … _become us_ … _guard this place with us_ … _forever_."

"I'm so sorry, my friend." Agahnim replied as he backed away. "I don't know how to save you… but I won't allow you to suffer here."

The creature grabbed for him, but Agahnim ducked down to avoid it while kicking his legs out from under him, and the creature fell onto his back. Fire gathered in the robed wizard's hand as he stood up, and then he tossed it down, engulfing the creature's wrappings in flames. It was his hope that this would be the end of it, but then the creature started to get up, acting as if the flames were not there, even though they had completely consumed him. So again he backed away, leaving the chamber as a certain powerful magic gathered between his hands. This was a special spell that he was preparing, and was incredibly powerful, although not practical for use in battle.

It required almost two full minutes to gather the mystical energy required to execute it, during which most enemies would simply attack and interrupt it, if they weren't slow moving tomb guardians, that is. So he continued to back down the hall, toward the entrance back into Lizard Mine; the creature advancing and burning while the gold colored magic became more intense. Finally it flashed brighter, signaling that the spell was ready, but Agahnim made sure that it was back through the hole in the wall before doing anything.

" _You cannot escape_." The burning creature continued. " _You will be hunted_ … _you will be captured_ … _you will be one of us_ … _forever_."

"I wish I could have saved you." Agahnim replied. "Instead I give you peace… _Bombos_!"

The gold magic between his hands became a massive fireball that launched toward the creature, causing it to vanish in a large explosion. The force of this blast knocked Agahnim down as the first explosion launched a hundred smaller versions of the original fireball in all directions throughout the chamber, and each one became another explosion. All of this destruction caused the brick ceiling to collapse, burying the tomb under a million tons of mountain, and this destruction spread into Lizard Mine as Agahnim sprinted toward the exit.


	14. Chapter 14 Hindered Success

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Fourteen: Hindered Success**

Only meaning to close his eyes for a moment, Prince Façade was woke with a start as an exceptionally loud crash of thunder tore across the sky. Through the windows and broken door that was moving in the wind, he could see that it was still dark outside, meaning that he couldn't have slept for too long. Still laying on the stairs where his battle with Darknut had ended, the Prince found that his back was sore when he sat up, as was his arm. Dried blood was caked over where he had been hit by his enemy's sword, meaning that he would have to clean and bandage it before moving on, and then he realized that Darknut was gone.

The wound that Façade had given the knight should have been fatal, but apparently this was not the case, since not only was his enemy nowhere to be found, but there was also a blood trail leading toward the door. The knight must've dragged himself away, but the still pouring rain had washed away the trail just inches after exiting the estate, meaning that he could be _anywhere_ by now. Still, the stab to his back must have done significant damage, being that the knight hadn't been strong enough to kill the Prince in his sleep, but somehow Façade was not comforted by this thought.

Groaning as he sheathed his silver sword before pulling himself to his feet, the Prince shook his head to wake himself up completely. It was tempting to go upstairs and sleep in one of the guest room beds, but he needed to move on, not only because his beloved Zelda was still in danger, but also because he didn't want to be around if Darknut returned with friends. Not that he was afraid, far from it, but that didn't mean that he was up for a rematch just yet. He was sure that they would meet again, but hopefully not until after his arm had healed. So after letting out a deep sigh, Façade walked to the door, and stepped out into the rain.

The cold pouring water helped to wake him up as he went back to the stable where he had left his horse, Perfection, and after opening the stall, he opened the saddle bag. This was where he kept important supplies like the bandages he was going to use, and after using the rain to clean off the wound, he wrapped it. There was still a dull pain, but at least he wasn't bleeding anymore, so he put the rest of the bandages into the saddle bag, along with the reclaimed chest, and walked Perfection outside. It was too dark to see which direction his compass was pointing, so he got onto the horse, and decided to ride until the sun came up. Then not only would he be away from Darknut, but then he could also come up with a plan for his next move.

"Let's go, Perfection." He said, making the animal start walking. "I found the first chest, but our quest to defeat Gargamel and save Zelda is only just beginning."

 _Meanwhile, in the town of Port Hylia…_

Sticking to the shadows as she moved into the town limits, Miranda tried her best not to draw attention to herself as she made her way back to the inn where she and her father were staying. Perhaps it would have been more proper for nobles like them to stay in the nearby island palace, but it was much easier to sneak in and out of common places, which was why she had convinced her father to stay there. None of the guards noticed her as she moved silently down the street, allowing her to get back to the inn without incident, and her trusty hookshot made it easy to get back into her room's window on the second floor.

Her father's room was right next to hers, but he was also the heaviest sleeper in Hyrule, so she didn't worry about making noise when she landed in the room and shut the window. Next she removed her mask and hood before changing out of her _Blind the Thief_ outfit, taking a moment to dry off, and then slipping on her nightgown before putting the recovered chest in one of her bags. The final step was to slip into bed, and then Miranda let out a long sigh of relief. She had done it; her mission to infiltrate Eagle Prison and steal back Zelda's chest was a success, and best of all, no one would ever know about it.

Of course, it hadn't been easy. She had been truly frightened during her scuffle with that Goriya creature, and her neck was sore from when he had tried to strangle her with his boomerang. The good news was that she had survived and saved those custodians, but where had the little creature come from in the first place? Zelda's letter had mentioned that her father's friend, Ganondorf was up to no good and would probably try to find the chests, so did Goriya work for him? Was that the reason that he had murdered all those guards, and then tried to choke her to death?

Miranda was scared now as she pulled the blanket up to her neck and hugged the other pillow on the bed… not for herself, but for Zelda. If she had really been kidnapped Ganondorf, and he was even worse than Goriya… then what horrors was she being subjected to? She had only met the sorcerer once, but it was enough for her to decide that she didn't like him, nor did she like the way that he had leered at her cousin. Zelda was without a doubt the most beautiful young woman in Hyrule, but that seemed more like a curse when it drew the attention of people like that brute. It was better to attract men who had a gentle touch… and strong arms… and blue skin… and a tongue that seemed to dance with hers when they kissed.

The fear was gone now, at least for the moment, and Miranda found herself smiling again as she snuggled into the pillow she was holding. Now that she had started to relax, it made her realize how tired she was, and soon her eyelids became too heavy to keep open as she drifted off to sleep.

 _A short time later, in the Eastern Woods…_

The rain continued to fall as the morning hours passed, but as much as Link wanted to return to the shelter of his cave to rest, he knew that it was not a good idea just yet. That statue monster had been trying to force its way through the trees and stone of what remained of the walls of Lion Fortress, so the young man traveled in the wrong direction for over an hour, to make certain that he did not lead it back to his home. He headed west, his plan to exit the Eastern Woods, and then take the long way back around through the rocky coast. It was a pain, and would take some time, but it was better than trying to fight off that statue again.

So far it did not appear that it was following him, but still Link kept going until he reached the edge of the forest. The rain was hitting him a lot harder now that he didn't have the protection of the trees, but he had been completely soaked for a few hours now, so a little more water didn't really matter. Still, his task to get the chest was successful, meaning that now they had two, and if Agahnim got his, that would make three. Of course, Impa hadn't said just how many there were, but if they were lucky, the Triforce of Wisdom would be in one that they already had. Then again, these chests seemed a little small to hold something like that, not that he had ever seen a Triforce before, but he just assumed that it would be… bigger.

The young man was still examining the chest as he reached the trail that lead south to the coast, when a figure appeared in the distance. At first he thought it might be an Octorok or something, judging by its size, but as it got closer he saw that it was actually another young man with long hair, riding on a white horse. He was coming down the trail from the west, and kept looking at something that was attached to his wrist, as if it were telling him which way to go. Apparently it wasn't doing too good a job, since he was looking around like he was confused until he spotted Link.

"Pardon me, good sir." He said as he stopped the horse upon reaching him. "I am on a mission of dire importance, and I must find…

The rider trailed off as he looked at Link for a moment, and this confused him for a second until he realized that this person was staring at the chest he was holding. Now, being that this was the rural southern region of Hyrule, there was always the possibility of getting robbed, but the rider didn't look like a typical highwayman. In fact, he looked just the opposite, with his armor and other things he was carrying. Basically he looked like a nobleman who had gotten lost, and he was probably rich, so it was a shame that Agahnim wasn't there so they could do their usual routine.

"That chest!" He exclaimed. "That is the mark of the royal family, is it not? You must give it to me at once!"

The rider looked desperate, with a wild look in his eyes that spoke of urgency, but as far as Link knew, only a few people knew about the chests that Princess Zelda had hidden. There was the Princess, herself, Impa, Agahnim, himself… and Ganondorf. Now, he was never one to just start accusing people of things, but these chests were needed to save the Princess, and he couldn't risk handing one over to someone who might be one of Ganondorf's men.

"I'm afraid I can't do that." Link replied as he stowed the chest away. "I have an important task as well, and I need to get this back to its rightful owner, so I'll be on my way."

The young man started to walk away, but the rider moved his horse to block him. He then jumped down, further blocking Link's path while readying his shield and drawing his rather exquisite looking sword. He didn't want to fight, especially after just going through that ordeal with the statue, but he was also not one to back down, so Link readied his newly acquired sword as well.

"I _will_ have that chest." The rider said with an angry tone. "I have no wish to harm you, but if you interfere, you will _not_ be spared my blade."

 _Meanwhile, in the Lost Hills…_

The tunnel of Lizard Mine continued to collapse behind him as Agahnim ran for the exit, but at least this time he could see where he was going, since the distant daylight illuminated the outline of the mine track. He truly regretted not being able to save the scout from being turned into that creature, but at least he had been able to end his suffering, and now no one would ever suffer in that death chamber again. Of course, now he had to escape, and if not for his ability to teleport, he would have never made it before Lizard Mine was completely destroyed.

Reappearing outside the mine entrance just in time to get hit by the smoke from the final collapse, the robed wizard coughed and rubbed his eyes while waiting for the smoke to clear. It was so thick that he was unable to see more than a few feet in front of him, but when the wind and rain finally began to disburse it, he realized that he was not alone. There was a figure standing a short distance away, tall and muscular looking as it approached, but seemed to stop and hold its position once it became aware that, it too, was not alone.

"And what do we have here?" The figure said as his features became clearer. "When you appeared like that, I thought you were a Wizzrobe, but I've yet to meet one of their kind with the power to collapse an entire mine like that. I would have used _Quake_ , myself, to get more time, but I didn't feel the ground moving, so… _Bombos_? Tell me your name, little wizard."

This person was certainly imposing once the smoke cleared completely, and the crashes of thunder and lightning from the rain storm didn't help, either. But, so far he hadn't made any aggressive moves, and it was nice to meet someone else who had magical knowledge, so there was no reason to be rude.

"My name is Agahnim." The robed wizard answered. "And yes, I used _Bombos_ … there was a creature in the mine, and well… it might have escaped if I used anything else."

"Then it appears you did right." The stranger replied. "Well, Agahnim, I am pressed for time, so I will be blunt. My name is Ganondorf, and I want _everything_ you took from the mine."


	15. Chapter 15 Setbacks

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Fifteen: Setbacks**

Link should have known that it would come to this; he knew that the rider was trouble from the second he saw him, and he should have ducked back into the forest when he had the chance, but did he? No, he just stood there like an idiot as he approached, and now raindrops were being scattered as their swords clashed. This pompous rider was far more skilled than the young man had guessed, however, and instead of the quick victory he imagined, Link was just barely able to hold his own.

"Give me that chest." The rider ordered as he shoved Link back. "I have no wish to kill you, so surrender it now, and you can just tell Gargamel that you haven't recovered it yet."

"I don't know any _Gargamel_ , friend." The young man replied. "But this chest is too important to give up, and if you know what's in it, then I have to stop you."

Rushing at each other again, thunder crashed as their swords hit, their attacks bounced off each other's shields, and both tried to overpower the other with a mixture of strength and finesse. Link slashed at the rider's feet, but he jumped back, and bashed the young man with his shield, knocking him down. He then stabbed at him with the silver sword, but Link managed to deflect it with his own shield before kicking the rider in the stomach hard enough to make him stumble back. Normally the kick probably wouldn't have been strong enough to knock him down, but the forest floor was slippery, so he fell onto his back in a puddle of mud.

"Oh no!" The rider shrieked as he scrambled to get out of it. "No, no, no, this is my _good_ armor! What will the people think if they see me out looking like _this_?!"

"They'll think you fell in the mud." Link replied as he got up. "Now go away."

As much as he wanted to teach this… person a lesson, he needed to get the chest back to Impa before anything else happened. After all, he didn't know how many different chests that the Princess had hidden, and the search could take a very long time, so he started to walk away, but then sighed with annoyance when he heard the rider's armor shaking, meaning that he was getting back up. As he turned back around, the young man hoped that the rider would be walking back to his horse to leave, but no, of course he wasn't. He was back on his feet, with sword ready, and slowly advancing to continue the fight.

"There is no reason for this." Link continued as he readied his own sword. "We can just go our separate ways."

"We certainly can." The rider replied. "All you have to do is give me that chest."

He attacked with a downward swing, but instead of trying to match him, the young man backed off. He did the same with the next few attacks that the rider made, slowly luring him back toward the trees a little at a time. Suddenly Link's back was against the first tree, and the rider stabbed, but this was the young man's plan. At the last second he moved out of the way, causing the rider's blade to become so imbedded in the wood that he couldn't pull it back out, at least not before Link hit him right in the bandaged part of his arm with the bottom of his sword hilt. The rider cried out as he let go of his sword, but then he raised his shield and rushed at Link, making him also lose his weapon as they collided.

Falling to the ground, they tried to hit each other with their shields while making failed attempts to restrain each other with their other arms, and this went on until a shadow loomed over the two of them. Stopping and looking up, they had just enough time to scream and jump out of the way just before the living statue that Link had faced inside of Lion Fortress landed where they had been. It stabbed at the young man with its spear, who just barely was able to roll out of the way, and then it swung the weapon at the rider, impacting his shield hard enough to knock him into another mud puddle.

"Look out, it'll crush you!" Link warned.

As expected, the statue leapt into the air, and the rider let out a high pitch shriek as he rolled out of the way, causing him to get splashed with even more mud when it landed. The statue sunk deep into rain-softened terrain as it slashed at him with its spear, but it missed, so it leapt again, but was only able to get a few inches up before sinking back in. It made a second attempt, with the same result, and all this could only mean one thing.

"It's stuck." Link said as he got up. "The statue! It's stuck!"

The rider seemed to realize this as well, and now they both started laughing, moving closer to the statue as its constant struggling only made it sink deeper each time it moved. The pouring rain combined with its weight and struggles had a quicksand effect on the ground, and before long its body, weapon, and even the highest parts of its head vanished underneath the mud. The two of them just stood there laughing at how the monster had defeated itself, but then Link suddenly balled up his fist and punched the rider in the side of the head as hard as he could, making him collapse.

"There better be a _good_ reward for all this." The young man said to himself as he went to retrieve his sword.

 _Meanwhile, in the Lost Hills…_

A chill ran down Agahnim's spine when the sorcerer revealed his name, and now he was starting to realize just how dire the situation had become. He wasn't so deluded to believe that he was a match for Ganondorf, especially with knowing that his power was augmented by the Triforce of Power, so his first thought was to escape. Lizard Mine was destroyed, so he couldn't duck in there, there was a river at the bottom of the hill he was on, but it was a little far away, and there was always running back to the Eastern Forest, but that could lead him to the other chests that had been found.

" _Everything_ , little wizard." Ganondorf said. "Drop everything that you took from the mine, and I will let you leave here unharmed."

There was no way of knowing which chest had the Triforce of Wisdom, meaning that he couldn't let him get a hold of even one. So the Agahnim vanished, reappearing as close as he could to the river, but Ganondorf appeared in front of him an instant later with a backhand that sent the robed wizard rolling and sliding across the dirt and rocks. The sorcerer laughed to himself as Agahnim pulled himself to his feet, and he wouldn't have thought it possible, but now his situation was even worse. If Ganondorf was able to teleport like he could, then escape was impossible, and there was only one option left.

" _Byrna_!" Agahnim shouted as magical energy turned his robes red. " _Saltar_! _Vitalidad_!"

Magic crackled around his feet, increasing his speed and agility as he called out the second spell, and the minor wounds he had received were healed as he called out the third. It was obvious that he was going to have to fight Ganondorf on his own… at least until he could find a way to escape. So he attacked, throwing a ball of flame at the sorcerer, and then vanishing, only to reappear right in front of him with a powerful kick to the chest. Ganondorf stumbled back from the hit, but Agahnim didn't let up. Letting loose a flurry of punches to the sorcerer's face and torso, he drove Ganondorf further and further back. He then vanished, reappearing in the air while producing a ball of flame in his hand, which he used as he smacked his enemy in the side of the face.

The fireball disbursed in a flash of flame as Ganondorf was sent stumbling sideways, and then it was _his_ turn to slide across the ground after falling on his face. Now feeling a little better about his chances, Agahnim was trying to decide whether to run or keep attacking, when the sorcerer got up; not in a pained effort that should have been the result of such a beating, but completely unharmed, and simply annoyed at the very most as he brushed the dirt off of his clothes.

"Not bad… for a mere boy." He said while taking a moment to stretch. "To tell you the truth, I was in a bit of a hurry this morning, but, well… yes, I believe I can spare a few minutes to teach you the proper ways of magical combat."

Vanishing, Ganondorf reappeared in front of Agahnim with a punch to the chest that was so powerful, it was like the shielding spell on his robes wasn't even there. This meant that the blow probably would've killed him if he hadn't used it, instead of just getting sent rolling across the rocky ground. Unlike the sorcerer, however, Agahnim did not have an easy time getting up, and he had to use a nearby large rock to pull himself up. In fact, the robed wizard was just getting to his feet, when Ganondorf reappeared to continue his own attacks. He punched Agahnim in the side of the head, making him fall back against the rock, and then gave him several left and rights to both sides of the head until sunk down to the ground.

"I will take that, thank you." Ganondorf said, taking the chest from Agahnim's robe as he struggled to get to his hands and knees. "But you may have _this_ in return."

The sorcerer then slammed his foot into Agahnim's stomach, making him fall back down, and then he grabbed the robed wizard's wrist putting his foot on his upper arm. Stomping down as hard as he could while pulling his wrist upward, Agahnim screamed in agony as a wet snapping sound came from his now broken arm. Laughing as he released the useless appendage, Ganondorf pulled the robed wizard to his feet by the back of his neck, and booted him in the chest, making him not only stumble back, but also roll most of the way down the very steep and rocky part of the hill, skidding to a stop near the river.

"Now, as pleasant as this has been, it is time for us to part ways." The sorcerer continued as a sphere of blue energy gathered in his hand. "Goodbye, Agahnim."

The sphere doubled in size before it was tossed at the robed wizard, and as it screamed toward him, the power he felt coming from it made him fear that he wouldn't survive it even with his shielding spell. The chest was lost, either way, but there was a single chance for him to survive, and if he managed to escape, he could always find a way to get it back later. But, hey, maybe he would get lucky, and the Triforce would be in the one that Link was retrieving.

" _Reflejar!_ " Agahnim groaned, holding up his hand.

Suddenly the robed wizard's hand was shimmering in a manner similar to if anyone had seen Prince Façade's shield, and when the energy sphere struck him, it was bounced back. Ganondorf dove out of the way, and then there was a massive explosion at the top of the hill, giving Agahnim the cover he needed to vanish and reappear in the water. The fast moving current quickly swept him away as the sorcerer could be heard screaming in rage, and then a smaller sphere of energy slammed into the rock face next to him, causing large pieces of stone to rain down into the water. The robed wizard managed to avoid getting hit by them, but there was no way for him to avoid going over the edge of the waterfall that was just ahead.


	16. Chapter 16 Ganondorf's New Plan

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Sixteen: Ganondorf's New Plan**

Using the recorder to summon the whirlwind that would send him back to Spectacle Rock, Ganondorf was a little more than angry when he reached the throne room where Princess Zelda and the Triforce of Power were waiting. There was still some dirt and smoke residue on his skin and clothes from having his own attack sent back at him, and Zelda's defiant gaze as he approached did not help him to calm down. He was getting tired of her games and plots, so without saying a word, the sorcerer walked up to the throne and backhanded her as hard as he could.

She let out an involuntary _yelp_ as she was knocked off her feet, but then Zelda reached the limit of her chains, which caused her to fall in a different direction. This action lessoned some of his frustration with recent events, and the defiance was gone from her face as she lay dazed on the steps, but he wasn't quite finished yet. Grabbing her wrist and pulling her to her feet, Ganondorf backhanded her a second time, but instead of letting her fall again, he used her wrist to pull her back for a third hit.

"Do you think me a fool, Zelda?" He asked after letting her fall. "I have minions scouring every square inch of the southern outskirts, so did you really think that I would not discover your friends attempting to recover what you hid?"

The Princess was just starting to move, when she had to gasp as his hands locked around her throat with a powerful grip. She gagged and coughed while his grip got tighter. Being choked seemed to have woken Zelda from her daze, and she grabbed his wrists in an effort to break his grip. She tried to sit up and gain some kind of leverage, but he forced her back down on the steps, and honestly Ganondorf was a lot stronger than she was, and could've overpowered her even if she had been able to breathe.

"What was your plan, my darling?" He asked as her grip weakened. "Have your friends recover them without my knowledge so that I would keep searching forever like an idiot? Well, your wizard friend didn't think I was an idiot when I broke his arm, so tell me who else is helping you, and how many chests have been recovered, or I will strangle you to _death_."

" _Release her, Ganondorf_." The Triforce ordered. " _I wish to see her suffer endlessly, but that will be impossible if she is dead_."

But the sorcerer ignored the Triforce's words, and continued to strangle Zelda, who's attempt to break free had become a desperate flailing as she tried in vain to take a breath. Eyes wide and tears streaming down her cheeks, the Princess looked like she was about to pass out, when it was Ganondorf's turn to scream in agony when he was struck in the back by a bolt of red lightning from the Triforce. His grip on Zelda was released, allowing the Princess to cough and gasp for breath while he rolled backwards down the short stairs, and there he convulsed, groaning in pain for several seconds until the red power stopped crackling around his body.

" _I do not like to be ignored, Ganondorf_." The Triforce of Power continued. " _Nor do I enjoy repeating myself, so listen to my words very carefully. You will rule the Kingdom of Hyrule, and Zelda will spend the rest of her life as your personal slave, not because you wish these things, but because I do. You may beat and torture her as much as you like, in fact, I encourage it… but make another attempt on her life… and I shall make an attempt on yours_."

"I understand, Triforce of Power." The sorcerer groaned as he got up. "It will not happen again… not that the efforts of her friends will mean anything without _this_."

Princess Zelda was just pulling herself up to a sitting position, when Ganondorf reached into one of the deep pockets of his coat, and took out the chest that he had recently taken from Agahnim at Lizard Mine. She tried to hide it, but the Princess was visibly surprised to see that the item was in his possession, and appeared to be even more surprised when he set it on the floor in front of her.

"A frustrating device." He continued as he sat down next to her. "Now, I have tried everything I know to get it open, including nearly dying in an explosion while retrieving it, so I am guessing that it can only be opened by a member of Hyrule's royal family… based on that emblem, I mean. So how about you be a good girl and open it for me?"

"I can't." She answered, still trying to catch her breath. "Those chests have to be opened _willingly_ , by a member of the royal family… they were made for women to keep things private from men, so my father can't help you, either. He tried when they belonged to my mother."

" _You are wasting your time, Ganondorf_." The Triforce added. " _The fact that you have it is enough to disturb her, so better to hide it away. You might not be able to open it, but as long as it is in your possession, her friends with not have the contents, either_."

The sorcerer nodded in agreement, and snapped his fingers, causing a Moblin to come running into the throne room. Ganondorf figured that the best place to put such a mysterious treasure was under heavy guard in the deepest and darkest chamber in the lowest levels of Spectacle Rock, so that was what he ordered the creature to do. However, no sooner had the Moblin ran out of the room to the east, when there was a metallic banging sound as Darknut the Overwhelming stumbled in from the west. The knight was leaning against the wall to keep on his feet, but then he slipped off and fell on his face.

"Ganondorf." He groaned as he crawled across the floor. "I was ambushed at Manji Estate, and the chest was taken… Armos has not reported back from Lion Fortress… and Goriya was killed at Eagle Prison. It was Façade… Façade of Arcadia who attacked me."

Grunting with disappointment at this revelation, the sorcerer ignored the slowly approaching knight while he gave the matter some thought. He had expected Prince Façade to appear eventually, and there was that wizard he had encountered, but what about the others? All of those locations were too far away for just the two of them in that amount of time, so were there others involved? Certainly this was all part of Zelda's plot to keep him from finding the Triforce of Wisdom, so the fastest way to find out was to ask her.

"Zelda, my love." Ganondorf said while putting his arm around her. "You and I are going to be spending the rest of your life together, so honesty is important, especially if you want to be fed more than once every two days. Now, I know that your precious little Façade is trying to save you, and I met your wizard friend at Lizard Mine, although I don't expect him to survive his injuries, so I suppose he no longer matters. The point, my darling, is that I need to know who else is trying to get in my way."

The Princess was silent, staring at the floor with a nervous look on her face, as if expecting to be struck again. Ganondorf was about to oblige her, wanting to beat her senseless for daring to resist his will… but then he got a better idea. Instead of hitting Zelda, he turned toward the heavily wounded Darknut, and tossed a red colored energy sphere at him. On impact, the energy was absorbed into him, and the stab wound on his back closed up. The knight's armor then turned a kind of bluish color, and he slowly rose to his feet as if he had never been wounded in the first place.

"Darknut, here are your instructions." The sorcerer began once he was healed. "First you are to spread the word that Prince Façade has very cleverly kidnapped Princess Zelda, and is now an enemy of Hyrule, as are any who conspire with him against me. Offer a large reward for the identities of his accomplices, and then you will resume your hunt for the Prince. I want him broken, Darknut… I want him broken so that Zelda can see, and then _all_ of them drowned in Lake Hylia so that _everyone_ can see. Go."

Darknut bowed to him before leaving as quickly as he had entered, and then Ganondorf turned his attention back to Zelda. He placed a finger underneath her chin to make her look at him, but she pulled her head away, only to be pulled back when he pinched the back of her neck. Now, as much as he enjoyed manhandling the Princess of Hyrule, the sorcerer imagined that it would eventually get tiresome having to force the girl into everything. Unfortunately, she was needed, not only to legitimize his claim to the throne by marrying her, but also because she was the only member of the royal family that could open those damn chests, so…

"I know what is bothering you." Ganondorf continued as a new idea formed in his mind. "You're lonely… yes, I've kept you locked up here all alone without anyone to talk to. Well, fear not, my little songbird, because I have found the solution. I recall once when I was meeting with your father, you were in the company of another girl… a cousin… Mildred, or Madelyn, or… _Miranda_ , that was it. Perhaps I should extend her an invitation to join us here for a time, what do you think, my love?"

"Leave her alone." Zelda replied. "Miranda has nothing to do with this."

The sorcerer couldn't help laughing, since he had found a potential weak point in his prisoner's stubbornness, and it made him so happy that he grabbed her by the cheeks and mashed his lips against hers. Zelda pushed against him and struggled to get away, causing her to fall backwards when he finally released her. It was going to be nice to see the Princess become a little more cooperative for a change, and if he remembered right, the cousin was quite fetching as well, so he looked forward to having both of them chained to his throne.

"Oh, she has _everything_ to do with this, my beloved." Ganondorf said as he stood up. "You see, I expect you to be a lot more servile once Miranda is with us, because she will suffer every time you upset me, and _you_ will suffer every time she does. I have to say I enjoy the idea of the two most beautiful girls in Hyrule serving my desires in order to protect each other. Who knows… maybe when I become King of Hyrule, I should just marry _both_ of you."

Laughing loudly as he stepped away from the throne, the sound was joined by the laughter of the Triforce, who apparently found this idea amusing as well. Ganondorf then took out the recorder and used its whirlwind to send himself away, but the Triforce of Power continued to laugh at the captive Princess.


	17. Chapter 17 Complications

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Seventeen: Complications**

"You will _not_ get away with this, you ruffian!" Prince Façade called out.

The last thing he remembered was his fight with the green-suited thief getting interrupted by some kind of living statue, and then it had all gone dark before the Prince awoke in his current state. That state was having been disarmed, his magical artifacts removed, and his ankles bound with rope so that he could only take short quick steps while following his own horse, that his bound wrists were tethered to by more of the same rope. His armor was now the color of gray steel, since his magical ring had been taken, and as for the thief, as he was certain that was what this ruffian truly was, he was riding on Façade's horse as they made their way around the rocky ocean coast.

"Mark my words, you will be punished for this!" The Prince continued. "I promise you that you will rue the day that you crossed…

His words became a startled outcry as the thief spurred the horse, causing it to pick up speed, and making Façade lose his balance. The still-pouring rain had turned to coast into a giant mud puddle, and now the Prince was being dragged through it, until the thief made the horse stop after a short distance. If there was anything that Façade hated, it was getting dirty, and with the exception of today, he had usually managed to complete all of his quests without experiencing the unpleasantness of a mouthful of mud.

"Sorry, were you saying something?" The thief asked as the Prince got up.

"Do something, Perfection!" Façade yelled to the horse. "Throw him, or… roll on him, or something!"

In response, the horse just snorted and kind of shook its head before resuming the walk, causing the Prince to nearly lose his balance again as he struggled to keep moving. He was only glad that Zelda was not there to see him in such a state; defeated and bound to his own horse by a common thief who humiliated him at every turn. Obviously brute force was no longer going to work in this situation, so he needed to use his mind. Now, he suspected that this thief might not be Gargamel's man after all, since he would have probably just killed him after knocking him out if he was. But then how did he come upon that chest? Had he discovered it by accident while looting historical places? And where was he taking him? A sort of… Thieves' Den?

"Do you even know what is inside that chest?" Façade asked. "It must have been difficult to retrieve, but if you let me go, I will pay you handsomely for it, as well as a small ransom for my own freedom. That is your plan, is it not? Selling the chests and then ransoming me back to my family?"

"And I thought _Agahnim_ talked too much." The thief replied with an aggravated sigh. "Look, _friend_ , I don't know who you are, or how you know about these chests, but I _do_ know that you attacked me like a lunatic without reason. Something tells me that you aren't one of Ganondorf's minions, and I'm not a murderer, so I'm taking you to Impa… then _she_ can decide what to do with you."

The Prince fell silent after hearing these words, and now a glimmer of hope was shining through this dark situation. Of course, how had he not seen it before? During their fight, he had noticed that the thief carried the sword and shield of a Knight of Hyrule, but he had assumed that they had been stolen. This carried the possibility that he was no thief at all, and that maybe Façade had found an ally.

"I see now that I have made a grave mistake." The Prince continued. "When I saw your disguise, I thought you a common forest bandit, but if you know Impa, then you must serve the royal family. Don't you see, we are on the same side... I am Façade, Prince of Arcadia… Zelda's betrothed."

"Yes, _of course_ you are." The thief replied while rolling his eyes. "And I am _Harkinian_ , King of all Hyrule. Now shut your mouth before I spur the horse again, and _drag you_ the rest of the way."

 _Meanwhile, near the foot of Death Mountain…_

There had been nothing that Agahnim could do to stop himself from falling over the edge of the waterfall, and there was pain when he felt the rocks on the bottom of the river below scrape against his back, but at least it helped him to get away from Ganondorf. The momentum of the fall had driven him back to the surface, but with only one working arm, it was difficult for the robed wizard to stay afloat while the fast moving current of the river carried him off. The good news was that there had been no sign of the sorcerer, or any more attacks made by him from a distance after the escape, but the bad news was that Agahnim was hurt.

His arm was broken, his back had been sliced from the rocks, and the pain in his head from the beating he took near Lizard Mine made it difficult to stay awake. The cold water helped a little with this part, but other than that, there was nothing that could be done. He didn't have the strength to swim to the shore line while the current was spinning him around, and in order to use his magic to heal himself, a large amount of concentration was needed. So there he remained, struggling to keep his head above water as the river carried him along the bottom of the mountains until it suddenly took a sharp turn to the left.

The river was a bit shallower now so that his tip-toes barely touched the bottom if he stretched, but the current speed increased, as did the amount of rocks that were sticking out on the surface. Making an effort to grab onto one of them, his hand kept slipping off, allowing him to be bashed into what seemed like every single one along the way. Hitting his head a couple times, and his body feeling the rest of the river's wrath, Agahnim was happy that he had cast the shielding spell on his robe, since he would probably be dead now if he had not. Of course, he still felt all of the rocks, but then the water suddenly became a lot deeper the next time he was pushed down.

Fighting to get back to the surface, the robed wizard braced himself for more rocks, but there were none to be found. That, and the current of the water had been drastically slowed down. Taking the extra effort to rub his eyes, he realized that he was no longer in a river at all, but a massive body of water that barely had any kind of current aside from its own waves. There was an island a good distance away that was connected to the mainland by a bridge, and farther south, at the very edge of his vision, there was another island with a far grander structure in the center.

Lake Hylia, he thought to himself as the momentum from the river pushed him along slowly. This must be Lake Hylia, meaning that the first island was Eagle Prison, and that the other island would be Snake Palace, where the Provincial Governor lived. Maybe if he used all of his remaining strength, he could make it to either the prison island or the shore, but then all plans were halted as the water suddenly exploded in front of him. At first he thought Ganondorf had found him again, but then he realized that it wasn't something hitting the water… but rather something coming out of it.

It looked sort of like a huge blue fish with red fins on its head and arms as it leapt out of the water, but there was no more time for speculating when it dove back down, and its clawed hands stabbed into Agahnim's shoulders as it took him down into the depths along with it. The light from the surface became more distant as the creature pulled him further and further down, and this time there was no escape as he slowly lost consciousness.

 _Meanwhile, in Port Hylia…_

Having slept for most of the morning, Miranda was a bit disappointed when she sat up and saw that it was still raining outside her window. She also regretted sleeping for as long as she had, since Zelda was counting on her, but she also needed to keep her efforts, as well as her identity as _Blind the Master Thief_ a secret. This meant regularly showing her face around the city, and especially spending time with her father, so she made sure that her Blind costume as well as the recovered chest were hidden within her luggage, and then she got ready for the day.

Changing out of her nightgown, she put on a simple brown traveling dress in its place, since the rain would ruin her fancier clothes. Then she put the magic bracelet and compass on one wrist, mounted her hookshot on the other, and put up her hair, using the skeleton key as a hairpin. Once this was finished, she left her room, and went downstairs to the lobby of the inn where they were staying, to find her father. He was there, all right, but he was certainly not alone. There was a very large and powerful looking man sitting across from him at the table… a man with green skin and red hair, who turned and smiled at her when her father waved.

"Ganondorf." She whispered to herself, suddenly not feeling very brave.

Hoping to somehow be able to avoid this situation, this became impossible when her father waved her over to them, and of course she had to go. Zelda had warned her in the letter than Ganondorf had everyone fooled, especially the King, meaning that no one else had any idea how dangerous he was, or the slightest idea that he was the one behind Princess Zelda's disappearance. Miranda had only met him once before, and according to her cousin, he was a violent brute who was capable of anything, meaning that if she revealed his true nature, both she and her father could be in danger.

"Ah, good morning, my dear." Her father said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek and sat down. "Miranda, this is Ganondorf, the newly appointed General of the southlands. Ganondorf, do you remember my daughter, Miranda?"

"How could I forget?" The sorcerer replied as he took her hand and kissed it. "You are truly a vision, Miranda."

"Uh… thank you." She replied uncomfortably while slowly taking her hand back. "What, um… brings you to Port Hylia?"

"I hate to start off your day with bad news, my dear." Her father continued. "But your cousin, Zelda has vanished, and your uncle has charged Ganondorf with discovering her location. It is suspected, and… I do not wish to alarm you… that she might have been kidnapped."

"It is a _fact_ , Lord Rul." Ganondorf added. "And I may have discovered a clue, but it is locked inside a chest that can only be opened by a blood member of the royal family… a _female_ blood member. Now, you and your brother, King Harkinian do not meet these requirements, but Miranda _does_ , being that her and Princess Zelda's mothers were sisters. I hate to impose like this, but I must ask your daughter to accompany me for a short time… only until we have discovered the contents of the chest."

This _request_ of his made Miranda's mouth run dry, and as far as her father knew, Ganondorf was the King's trusted friend, and given that the safety of his niece was at stake, there was no reason for him to object. And if Miranda objected, it might alert the sorcerer that she was aware of the truth. This would put all of them in danger, as well as increase the possibility that he would discover that another chest was in the room above where the three of them were sitting. All she could do in this situation was reluctantly agree, and hopefully she would be able to get herself out of whatever Ganondorf had planned for her.


	18. Chapter 18 Escape from Spectacle Rock

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Eighteen: Escape from Spectacle Rock**

Once outside the inn where she and her father were staying, Miranda was about to ask where they were going, when Ganondorf took out his recorder. Holding onto her as he played a couple notes, they were suddenly swept away in a whirlwind that appeared out of nowhere. The wind was so strong that she had to shut her eyes, but then a few moments later it stopped, and she could no longer feel the rain. Opening her eyes again, she saw that they were now inside of a great stone temple of some kind.

"Welcome to Spectacle Rock, my dear." The sorcerer said while walking her forward. "This way, please."

There were creatures around; Moblins and some that reminded her of that Goriya creature she had fought at Eagle Prison, but all of them scurried to get out of sight the moment they noticed the two of them approaching. Miranda tried to form an image of the layouts of this place in her mind, but it was a massive labyrinth with halls and corridors that looked identical… that is, until they arrived at a great chamber, where the first thing she noticed was the Triforce of Power floating just above its pedestal. It had to be a Triforce, since it looked just like the Triforce of Wisdom, and the second thing she noticed was the large throne where…

"Zelda!" Miranda exclaimed.

Sprinting away from Ganondorf, her shoes made an echoing sound with each step until she reached the stone stairs at the foot of the throne, where she threw her arms around her cousin. The Princess looked like she had seen better days, with the bruises and other signs of ill-treatment from Ganondorf showing clearly in the Triforce's red light, and then she noticed the chains that kept her cousin near the throne like a slave. As for Zelda, herself, she looked terrified, not of Ganondorf, but of the fact that Miranda was there at all.

"I may not have been completely honest, my dear." The sorcerer said as he walked up to them. "Not about the chest, I, um, really _do_ need one of you to open it for me, but as far as Zelda's location… she's been here with me the whole time. I felt that she and I should become better acquainted, if we are to be married once I take over Hyrule."

"You monster." Miranda hissed as she turned to face him. "I will rip your damn face off!"

She then lunged at Ganondorf, her hands outstretched like claws, and the bracelet on her wrist pulsating with the power for her to do just that, but then her attack was stopped when the sorcerer's fist slammed into her stomach. Miranda just stood there for a second, unable to move while he slowly pulled his arm back, and then her legs gave out, dropping her to her knees while crossing her arms over her stomach and gasping for breath. There was movement from him, and she looked up just in time for the back of his hand to strike her across the face, sending her down to the floor, head first.

"Stop it!" Zelda yelled, pulling at her chains. "Leave her alone!"

"Leave her alone?" He replied as if shocked. "Why, my darling, we are just getting started. Guards!"

A small group of Moblins suddenly rushed into the room, quickly grabbing Miranda, and dragging her up toward the throne. She struggled against them, but the pain in her stomach was too great to do much, and the bracelet took some time before it could be used again. So she kicked and thrashed her arms around, but a few seconds later the Moblins had her in chains identical to Zelda's, on the other side of the throne. Once the locks were in place, the Moblins ran out of the room as quickly as they had appeared, and Miranda was just starting to pull on the chains, when Ganondorf sat down on the throne.

"Well, aren't I a lucky person?" He asked, grabbing both of them by the hair and pulling them close, to the very end of their chains. "I have the two most beautiful girls in Hyrule, kneeling at my feet, ready to fulfill my _every_ desire in order to protect the other from harm. What do you think of my collection, Triforce of Power?"

" _I find this situation pleasing_." The Triforce replied. " _Not only has every blood heir to Hyrule's royal family been subjugated, but now I am quite certain that they will each do anything required to protect the other from harm. Were I you, Ganondorf… I would take full advantage of that fact_."

"This _thing_ is the Triforce of Power?" Miranda asked. "No wonder our ancestors locked it away."

Suddenly Miranda screamed as a bolt of red lightning shot out from the Triforce, and struck her in the back, making Ganondorf have to let go of her since the red energy started to travel over to him as well. She rolled down the stairs as far as her chains would go, and she kept crying out in pain until it stopped crackling around her. Zelda was struck with an identical bolt a moment later, producing the same effects, and now the Triforce growled in anger.

" _Punish them, Ganondorf_." It ordered. " _Force them to degrade themselves, as penance for the crimes done to me by their ancestors_. _I want them to suffer, sorcerer… I want them to be scared… I want them to feel the hopelessness and despair of knowing that no one is coming to save them_."

"Very well, I have just the thing." The sorcerer replied. "Since you girls can't seem to play nice with the Triforce, I am going to give you a choice: Now… one of you is going to keep me company tonight; really doesn't matter which, since I plan on marrying _both_ of you right after I snap Harkinian's neck… while the other gets thirty lashes before being covered with a bucket full of salt. Of course… I may just forget about the punishment if one of you agrees to open a certain chest for me… I will leave you to decide."

With that, the sorcerer got up and left, leaving the two of them alone with the Triforce. Well, Miranda had no intention of staying there for Ganondorf's twisted games, so she took out the skeleton key, letting her hair fall around her shoulders as she turned so that both the key and the chains' lock was hidden from view. Zelda's eyes widened as she saw what her cousin was doing, but thankfully the Triforce didn't seem to hear the _whirr_ of the key as it adapted to the lock. Then there was a loud _click_ , and she froze as the red Triforce growled.

" _What are you doing over there_?" It asked as she turned to face it.

"Doing?" Miranda asked innocently while passing the key to Zelda. "I'm not doing anything… but please… please let us go. I know that our ancestors did wrong by you, and now we beg for your forgiveness. Please, great Triforce of Power… please allow us our freedom."

Zelda was already using the key on her own lock, but the key took time, so Miranda was trying to keep her voice loud and talk for as long as possible. She just hoped that it wouldn't see what they were doing, since there would be no way for her to hide the key again if it struck them with more lightning. Then she and Zelda would _really_ be in trouble, since one of them would have to spend the night with Ganondorf, and personally… she would rather take the lashes.

" _Forgiveness?_ " The Triforce replied. " _Freedom?_ _After I was buried under those rocks, I spent the first hundred years screaming for my freedom and begging your family to forgive me, but no one did. So there I remained, alone and forgotten until a thief named Ganondorf found me while trying to steal from someone else's mine. He thought I was a ruby… a ruby! It had been so long that no one even remembered what I looked like, and I want you girls to think about that while you suffer tonight_."

The red Triforce then let out another angry growl, which thankfully masked the sound of Zelda's chains opening. The Princess then passed the key back to her, and after a silent count to three, they ducked behind the throne to avoid the bolt of red lightning that came after them immediately after the Triforce of Power noticed what they were doing. Miranda then took Zelda's hand, and they made a run for it, heading for the door at the far end of the room, while the now screaming Triforce blasted away parts of the wall as it continued attacking. Small pieces of stone rained down on them like pebbles each time part of the wall was hit, but somehow they made it through the door.

"Do you know the way out?" Zelda asked once they were in the corridor.

"No." Miranda replied. "Let's try this way."

Down the hall they went, ducking past rooms, and hiding around corners as Ganondorf's minions ran toward the throne room to see what all the fuss was about. It was slow going, and they had no idea whether or not they were going toward an exit, but it was better than being in that throne room. She imagined that Zelda hadn't been having the nicest time there since being captured, but that was all over now.

"Don't worry, Zelda." Miranda reassured her as they moved down another hall. "I'm going to get you out of here, and then we'll tell Uncle Harkinian all about his _friend's_ true nature. He'll pay for what he did to you… I promise."

They had been seeing less and less creatures, hopefully meaning that they were about to get away, but then this hope was shattered as they rounded the next corner and ran right into Ganondorf. All three of them just stood there in total shock for a moment, but then the sorcerer grabbed them, although this time Miranda was not going to come quietly. The bracelet was ready again, and it pulsed with incredible strength as she slammed her fist into his groin, making him groan with agony as he bent forward. She then swung her arm while exposing the grapple of her hookshot, and there was a splatter of blood as it was dragged across Ganondorf's face.

The sorcerer cried out with shock and pain as he stumbled sideways, and the very last thing that Miranda did was slip her hand into his pocket. There was no way for her to find the way out of this place without getting discovered again, but that no longer mattered once she was in possession of the recorder that Ganondorf had used to bring them there. Leading Zelda a good distance away from the sorcerer, now all she had to do was play a note like he did, and they would be free. But then the sorcerer tossed an energy sphere at them, and Zelda, knowing very well its destructive power, shoved Miranda out of the way before diving in the other direction.

The explosion sent dust and debris flying, and Ganondorf used the distraction to vanish, reappearing behind Zelda as she got up, and grabbing her by the hair. Miranda was about to use her hookshot to attack him, but the sorcerer used her cousin like a shield.

"Fast hands, a skeleton key, and a hookshot." He said while wiping blood from his face with his free hand. "And here I thought that _Blind the Thief_ was a man… now drop everything, or I'll show you just how much pain your cousin can take without dying."

"Miranda, get out of here!" Zelda yelled. "Go, now!"

She wanted to stay and fight, but Miranda knew that she was no match for Ganondorf, and now she could hear the distant echoing footsteps of his minions coming to overwhelm her. There was no other option, and from what she gathered, Zelda would be in less danger if she was the only prisoner. So with a tear running down her cheek for her cousin, and an angry glare for the sorcerer, Miranda put the recorder to her lips and played a couple notes.

"I'll save you, Zelda… I promise." She said just before the whirlwind took her away.


	19. Chapter 19 New Challenges

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Nineteen: New Challenges**

The last thing that Agahnim remembered was being dragged down into the blackness of Lake Hylia by some kind of fish-monster… maybe a _Zora_? Whatever it was, the robed wizard remembered looking up to see the light of the surface getting farther away, and then he must've lost consciousness, because he woke up somewhere else. Gasping to take in a breath while coughing out some water, he looked around to find that he was surrounded by total darkness. There were sounds, though; constantly dripping water coming from all directions, along with a soft echo that followed each one.

His head was pounding, and his broken arm wasn't helping with its dull throbbing pain, but before Agahnim could do anything about that, he needed to figure out where he was. The best way to do that was to produce flame in his hand, so he went to raise his good arm, but found that for some reason it was stretched above his head. This made no sense until a ball of flame materialized in his palm, and he realized that he was hanging upside down. His feet were stuck to the ceiling with some kind of muck-looking substance, and then he was just starting to look around, when the orange light illuminated a figure moving toward him.

It was another Zora; clawed and webbed hands reaching out for him, and mouthful of sharp teeth opened wide for the kill. The creature grabbed him, and out of reflex the fireball was launched right into its face, causing the Zora to shriek in pain and surprise. The room went dark again once the flames disbursed, and Agahnim produced another one just in time to see the creature running out of the room, still shrieking as it vanished from sight. Not wanting to be stuck like that if the creature came back, the robed wizard aimed his hand at his feet, and tossed the fireball, again returning the room to darkness when it disbursed.

The muck must've been destroyed, because he felt himself falling the moment everything went dark, only to crash hard onto the wet stone floor an instant later. The water couldn't have been any more than an inch deep, but it was flowing since he could feel it moving as he slowly struggled to his feet. Another fireball in his hand bathed the room in dim orange flickering light, and now he finally had a chance to look around. The walls and floor were made of large cut stones, meaning that this place was not a natural cave, and then he saw the bones. Animal bones of all sizes littered the floor, but there were also some that looked like they came from people, along with a few cracked skulls that confirmed this.

Now looking up at the ceiling, he noticed several more muck patches like the ones that had held his feet, and it was only after seeing that some of them still had shoes and boots attached to them, that Agahnim realized that this place was a larder. The robed wizard had been meant for a meal just like all of the poor people who had come before him, and that's when he heard it. It was another shriek like the one the Zora had made, but this time it was not alone… and it was coming closer. There was no time to heal his arm and other injuries, since using that spell took time and concentration, so he turned and moved out of the room through the opposite door as quickly as he could.

 _Meanwhile, in the Eastern Forest…_

Link would have been lying if he said he didn't enjoy tormenting his captive, but the fool had to admit that he brought it on himself. After all, this lunatic had appeared out of nowhere and tried to kill him, and then started claiming to be royalty after being defeated, so what choice did the young man have but to drag him for a while? To be fair, he had warned his captive several times to stop talking, but he just kept on doing it until Link couldn't take it anymore. So, making good on his warning, the young man spurred the horse and dragged the would-be Prince across the mud-covered coastline.

Fortunately for his captive, they had already been close to the edge of the forest by the time this happened, so it was only for a minute or two that the screaming fool had to endure before they stopped again. Link didn't really want to hurt him, so he wasn't about to drag his captive across the root-covered forest trails, but that didn't mean he had to say all this to his captive. Thankfully, he seemed to have had enough dragging, so without saying anything, the would-be Prince got up and walked until they reached the cave where Impa was waiting. Hopefully Agahnim had returned as well, because as much as he didn't like his captive, Link had to admit that he was a talented fighter.

"You are going to pay for this, ruffian." His captive said as he was untethered from the horse. "Knight of Hyrule or no, I will have you flogged for a week, and then you…

His words were stopped as Link hooked his foot behind his captive's while pushing him backwards, and since his wrists and ankles were still tied, there was nothing to stop him from falling on his back in the mud once again. The young man then took out the silver sword and held the tip at his captive's throat.

"Were you saying something again?" He asked. "You know, even if you somehow _were_ a Prince, that means _nothing_ in this part of Hyrule. You tried to kill me, which makes you my enemy… but good thing for you I'm not a murderer. Now get up."

Pulling his captive to his feet, and pushing him toward the cave entrance, Link was happy to be out of the rain after so long. It was warm inside the cave, and it smelled like something was cooking, but there was no sign of Agahnim. Impa, however, was there, and the expression on her face said that she was a little more than surprised to see the two of them walking in as they did.

"Link, who is that with… _Prince Façade?!_ " The old woman stammered. "Your Highness, what… Link, what is going on here?!"

"This _lunatic_ attacked me in the forest." Link explained. "He tried to steal the chest you sent me for, and then he started screaming about being a… what did you just call him?"

Gasping again and hurrying up to the captive, Impa quickly untied him before leading this person, who apparently really was Prince Façade, over to where he could sit down. The old woman gave out several apologies for the way he had been treated, but that wasn't enough for the Prince, who pulled away from her after a short distance in order to face the young man again.

"Yes, I am really Prince Façade of Arcadia." The Prince said angrily as he approached. "And now I am going to teach you a lesson in how to treat your…

Link had already had quite enough of this person's ranting, so instead of listening further, he interrupted the speech by holding out the silver sword so the tip was once again at the still unarmed Prince's throat.

"Well, _excuse_ me, _Prince_." The young man replied just as angrily. "You attacked me, and tried to steal from me, and most importantly, I don't see any guards around. That means there's nothing stopping me from taking you outside and whipping you with my best."

"You see what a brigand he is, Impa?" Façade asked while backing up a little. "And there, in his hand… there is the proof that he is nothing but a common forest bandit. He stole my family's artifacts, he turned my own horse against me, and then he dragged me through the mud. It's no wonder I thought him one of Gargamel's minions."

"For the last time." Link seethed. "Who in the hell is _Gargamel_?!"

"That is enough, _both of you_!" The old woman yelled as she got between them. "You two ought to be _ashamed_ of yourselves; carrying on like this while poor Zelda is Ganondorf's prisoner. Now, you are _obviously_ both on the same quest to rescue her, so you _boys_ can either shake hands and start working together, or do you want King Harkinian to hear all about how you were fighting like children instead of finding his daughter?"

The last thing Link wanted was for the King of Hyrule to be upset at him, so with an angry huff, he dropped the silver sword at Facade's feet, while keeping his hand on the hilt of his own sword just in case. It seemed like the Prince didn't want Harkinian angry at him, either, so he picked up his sword, and sheathed it without incident. Well, it was a start, but that didn't mean that Link was happy about him being there. At least when Agahnim got back, they would outnumber Façade in case he decided to act foolish again.

"Impa?" The young man asked while taking a quick look outside the cave. "Where is Agahnim?"

 _Meanwhile, near the Lost Woods…_

As it had done before, the whirlwind spun Miranda around several times, and she was somewhere else when it vanished. It took a moment for her to get her bearings, but after seeing the red-leaved trees, and the matching colored shrubs, she realized that she was near the Lost Woods to the west. There were certainly worse places to end up, and anything was better than staying at Spectacle Rock, but she had hoped that the recorder would've taken her back to Port Hylia. At least there she could have warned her father, but then again it was now Ganondorf who was trapped… so long as he didn't have another one.

Either way, it appeared that she had to walk back to town, and it was quite a ways from where she was. It crossed Miranda's mind to use the recorder again, but there was a chance it would take her back to Spectacle Rock, and she doubted that Ganondorf would be as easy to escape from a second time. So taking a moment to slip the recorder down into her boot, she was about to start walking, when she had to duck down behind the red bushes in order to avoid being seen by a large group of patrolling Moblins.

One or two of them wouldn't have been a problem to fight off, but there were so many of them, and even if she managed to get away, she couldn't risk word of her location getting back to their master. Not only that, but the sorcerer was probably already putting out a reward for her capture. This meant that the best thing for her to do was hide until they left, but where? There were plenty of shrubs, but she would have to move each time that a Moblin came close, and her only other option seemed to be a small pond.

No, it wasn't a pond at all, but a runoff point for the floodvalve that she only saw because of how much it was raining. The floodvalves were placed around Lake Hylia in order to prevent floods by draining excess water that rose up too high, then allowed it to flow through the ancient tunnels that had been used to transport supplies during the old wars, and finally poured it out harmlessly in places like this. Now, Miranda had no intention of going down there, but maybe she could hide in the drain's opening until the Moblins passed.

Waiting until the creatures turned away, she hunched down and crept past the bushes, sloshed through the large puddle, and climbed up into the drain pipe just enough for her to be hidden in the shadows. Then she bumped into something, and didn't even have time to see what it was before it grabbed onto her with clawed and webbed hands. The creature then pulled her farther into the darkness, and she couldn't help but scream as they were suddenly sliding down a slippery sloping passage that took her down, down, into the darkness.


	20. Chapter 20 The Search for Agahnim

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Twenty: The Search for Agahnim**

Of all the things that Prince Façade did _not_ want to do, working with the one called _Link_ was at the top of the list. However, he was also not the type of man to try getting Impa to hold her tongue, so the Prince was left with no choice. On the brighter side, though, this _Agahnim_ person that the old woman described to him seemed like a much more agreeable sort… and it also never hurt to have a practitioner of magic at one's side, especially since the one who kidnapped Zelda was known to have great magical powers of his own. Anyway, Agahnim had yet to return from seeking one of the chests at Lizard Mine, so Impa encouraged the two of them to go and find him.

Having never been up into the foothills of Death Mountain before, he needed Link to show him the way, not that he would ever admit that to the young man. So they took only enough time to have some food, and then it was back out into the rain to begin the journey. Façade left his horse, Perfection, with the old woman in case for some reason she needed to escape in a hurry, and from there it was a long walk north through the Eastern Forest. This time, however, the Prince was not about to let himself get blindsided like in their last fight, so he kept his distance, his hand on the hilt of his silver sword at all times.

"I hope to find this Agahnim quickly." He said while stepping over a large root. "With a wizard at my side, I shall be able to convince Impa that _you_ are no longer needed."

"You think so?" Link replied, his own hand on the hilt of his sword. "Well, I hate to break this to you, _your lowness_ , but Agahnim has been my best friend since we were children. If anything, he and I can convince Impa that _you_ are no longer needed… or maybe we'll just gang up on you, and not need to tell her anything at all."

Oh, of all the loyal Citizens of Hyrule that lived in the rural outskirts, the Prince wondered why, oh why, he had to get paired with one like Link. Usually there were only two kinds of people in his life, the kind who bowed and respected him as they should, and the kind who fell at his blade. This brigand of the forest was clearly not the type to have been raised with any kind of manners, and as much as Façade hated to admit it, the young man was also a skilled swordsman who could not easily be bested.

That was the only time that they spoke during the journey, until the forest ended, and the foothills began. Thankfully they had not encountered any more of Gargamel's minions this time, since it was nearly impossible for the Prince to protect himself from Link while also fighting them off, as he had seen when that statue thing had attacked. However, the young man's attention was suddenly pulled away from Façade when they reached the top of the next hill, and there was only what looked like the remains of a collapsed mine waiting for them against the rock wall of Death Mountain.

"Agahnim!" Link yelled as he ran up to the entrance. "Agahnim, can you hear me?!"

According to the young man, the route they had taken was the fastest between this place and his hideout, meaning that it would've been almost impossible for them to miss the robed wizard if he had been on his way back with the chest. The most likely thing to have happened was that the mine had collapsed during the search, making the odds of Agahnim's survival not very good. Link continued to pull rock after rock out of the collapsed entrance, and Façade was about to say something to him, when the Prince noticed that his compass was not pointing toward the mine.

"Link, wait!" The Prince called as he ran up to him. "Link, the chest is not in there, see?! Look at my compass… Agahnim must've gotten out!"

"He _did_ , actually." A deep, empty, and familiar voice said from behind them. "Not that it did him much good."

Façade and Link slowly turned around to see that Darknut was standing a short distance away, the rain splashing off of his blueish colored armor as he faced them. His sword and shield were ready, and a flash of lightning, followed by the rumble of distant thunder only served to make this already fearsome opponent seem more intimidating. Slowly the Prince drew his own sword, prompting the young man to do the same, and in this instance alone, Façade was glad to have him there.

"I am pleased to see you again, Façade." The knight continued. "When Ganondorf described the wizard that he met here, I suspected that he was in league with you, but I see now that you have other friends as well."

"What happened to Agahnim?" Link demanded as he started forward.

"Link, hold a moment." Façade warned, blocking his advance. "I have faced this knight before… Darknut is not to be underestimated, and something about him seems different this time."

"You are wise to caution him, boy." Darknut continued. "My strength and abilities have been doubled, thanks to Ganondorf, not that you had an easy time of it at Manji Estate."

"Answer my question!" Link yelled, moving past Façade. "What happened to Agahnim?!"

The knight laughed, and then relayed the tale told to him by his master, describing in great detail how the robed wizard was beaten senseless. Link was becoming visibly angrier as the story progressed to the point where bones started getting broken, and it looked like the young man was going to attack, when both he and the Prince were distracted by the sound of what sounded like approaching horses. No, not horses, but blueish colored creatures that were monster-men for the top half, and with the lower body of horses. There were about six of these _Lynels_ now visible, each with a sword in one hand, with second blade sheathed on the other side.

"This is a lucky day for you, Façade." Darknut said with a chuckle. "Instead of getting my revenge by the sword, I mean to have you admit my superiority by surrendering. Now, if the two of you would be good enough to drop your swords, my men will…

The knight's speech was interrupted by Link letting out an angry yell as he rushed forward, locking blades with Darknut with an echoing _clang_. Façade knew that this was their only chance to stay alive, so he rushed to help, but was blocked by one of the Lynels. The creature slashed at him with its sword, which the Prince avoided by ducking down, and he was about to make an attack of his own, when a second Lynel kicked him with its hind legs from behind. Façade got a face-full of dirt as he slid across the rocky terrain, but he wasn't finished quite yet.

Jumping to his feet, he turned and made a leaping stab at the nearest Lynel, burying his silver blade into its chest, and making the creature groan as it fell. The Prince pulled the blade out, and was about to attack the next one, when two more galloped in and grabbed his arms. The one he had been about to attack then turned and kicked him in the chest with its hind legs, knocking the wind out of him as he flew backwards, and allowing the ones that had bene holding him to claim his sword and shield.

Façade made an effort to get up again, but the Lynels stopped this by encircling him, and he was certain that he would've died if not for the ring protecting him when they started stomping on him with their hooves. Even with the ring's magic, the Prince still felt it every time he was struck, and soon he was unable to fight back. The Lynels got a few more good stomps in before reaching down and pulling him to his feet, where three of them completely restrained the Prince so that he could see what was happening to Link.

The young man seemed to be doing well against Darknut, the two of them slowly circling while each attacked the other with their swords while also defending with their shields. Façade knew that Link's skills were almost exactly equal to his own, which is how he also knew that the knight had become faster and stronger than before. Link managed to avoid his powerful blows or block them with his small shield, but each one that he blocked sent him staggering back, while the young man's hits did next to nothing.

"You are talented, boy." Darknut said after knocking him back again. "However, it is now time for you to join Façade as my prisoner."

As expected, Link attacked again, but this time Darknut swung his sword low at the same time, dragging the tip of his blade across the young man's leg. Link stumbled and fell to one knee as a result, giving him no time to react as the knight swung his sword again, this time making a deep cut along the young man's forearm, cutting the straps that held his shield in place. Link started to cry out in pain as the small shield fell to the ground, but it was stopped when Darknut cut his other arm, making him drop his sword, before bashing him in the face with his shield.

This time the young man didn't get back up; he just lay there, his head rolling back and forth in a daze as the other two Lynels grabbed him by the arms while also claiming his fallen weapons. As for Darknut, Façade was still held in place while the knight casually walked over to him. Instead of saying anything, the knight punched him in the stomach, the hilt of his sword making the blow even more powerful, and causing the Prince to gasp and cough while the Lynels held him up.

"Kneel before me." The knight ordered.

Façade had no intention of doing such a thing, but then one of the Lynels kicked him in the back of the leg, forcing him drop down. He tried to stand back up, but the creatures kept him like this while Darknut rested the flat part of his sword on the Prince's shoulder so that the sharp edge was against his face.

"How did you imagine this happening, I wonder." The knight said. "Did you think that you and your friend were going to defeat me, and then go on to defeat Ganondorf? Perhaps you thought you were going to marry the Princess and live _happily ever after_ , hmm? Such a _handsome_ young Prince should expect nothing less, I suppose… but then again… how would Zelda look upon you if you were not so handsome?"

Darknut then quickly pulled his sword back, making Façade taste blood as the blade made a deep gash all the way from his ear to the edge of his mouth. It took a second for the pain to register, but it was cold and stinging when it did, so much, in fact, that the Prince couldn't help but let out a scream as his blood dripped down onto his armor.

"An improvement, I think." The knight said with a chuckle. "Take them both to the mausoleum."

Darknut continued to laugh, and there was nothing that Façade could do as he and Link were carried off by the Lynels.


	21. Chapter 21 The Demon Catacombs

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Twenty One: The Demon Catacombs**

It was such a nice day outside… the sun was shining, there was a warm breeze making the grass move as if waves on the ocean, and a picnic was always delightful as far as Miranda was concerned. A large quilt was spread on the ground underneath a large tree, and she was serving the sandwiches that she had prepared to her father, her uncle Harkinian, her cousin Zelda, and of course, the young man whom she had met on the road. They laughed, ate, and Miranda remained in the wizard's arms while stories of recent events were shared. She was so happy, and smiled while closing her eyes for a kiss… but it never came… and when she opened her eyes, the perfect fantasy was gone.

Letting out a small moan as her mind slowly accepted that she was in a different place, her breathing became quick and rapid while she looked around to see… nothing. Complete darkness surrounded her, so she reached into her pocket for the candle, but dropped it, and was shocked to feel it graze off her face on its way up. No, not up… nothing fell up, and as the rest of the contents of her pockets fell the same way, Miranda realized why her head was hurting so badly. It was because she was upside down. Relaxing for a moment to test this, her arms fell above her head, but unfortunately she was unable to reach the ground.

"Hello?" She said, barely a frightened whisper. "Is anyone there?"

She might not have been able to see, but there were sounds; flowing water and soft echoes each time some dripped. From that, she guessed that she was in some kind of a cave, but how had she gotten there? She remembered going to Spectacle Rock with Ganondorf, so was she a prisoner there? No, she remembered trying to escape with Zelda, but Miranda was the only one to get away, and then she had hidden from the Moblins. Yes, that was it, she had climbed into a drainage pipe to hide, and that was when everything became distorted. She couldn't quite remember what happened next, but clearly it resulted in being hanged upside down.

Well, she couldn't just spend the rest of the day hanging there, since Zelda was still a prisoner, and it actually frightened her to think what Ganondorf was doing to her at that moment, so she tried to sit upward, but there was some kind of material hanging in her way. No, it wasn't hanging, it was her dress falling upward over her face from being in that position, and suddenly she was glad that no one was currently around. Once she pushed it out of the way, it was easy to pull herself up high enough to feel the strange, sort of slimy, waxy substance that was bonding her feet to the stone ceiling.

Whatever this substance was, it was strong, and resilient enough to not be sliced when she tried the grapple of her hook shot. Everything else had fallen from her pockets, so her only option left was the bracelet, which pulsed as it gave her the strength to break the waxy material… and quickly crash to the floor. The good news was that the floor wasn't very far away, but she struck her head on the way down, and wasn't sure how long it had been before the next time her eyes opened. She had an incredible headache as she sat up, and she was bracing her arms for an attempt to stand, when her hand rested on something familiar.

It was the candle! Thankfully, it was magic, so the two inches of water flowing across the floor hadn't damaged it, and when the dim orange light filled the room, the next item she reclaimed was her skeleton key… followed by over a dozen small pieces of Ganondorf's recorder that she had stolen. Smacking the watery floor, Miranda felt horrible now, since that object had been the only way she had of getting back to Spectacle Rock in order to save Zelda, but then she noticed something else. There were white objects on the floor… dozens of them, and she thought that they were animal bones, until she looked up and saw the rotting body handing right next to her.

If she hadn't been so frightened and stunned at the same time, she might have screamed, but as her mind began working again, she realized that being loud was a bad idea. The armor that this person had been wearing had been torn open by what looked like claws, and most of the flesh underneath had apparently been… eaten. Suddenly feeling sick to her stomach, Miranda turned away to vomit, but stopped when she found yet another object discarded nearby. It was a small chest, and when she picked it up, Miranda gasped when she saw that it had the emblem of the royal family.

The only way to be sure that it was Zelda's, was to open it, since only a female member of that family could. So she pressed the latch, and a much brighter green light began to fill the room when she cracked the lid open. It was definitely one of Zelda's chests, meaning that this hanging body was the poor knight that had been sent to hide it in this place. She felt terrible for him, having suffered such an awful fate while following the orders of his Princess, and she would see that he along with any others, would be buried with full royal honors when this was all over. For now, however, she needed to take the chest and escape.

The knight carried a sack, so she took it, and had just relocked the lid of the chest, when a new sound caught her ear. There was some commotion coming from down a nearby passage, so she dropped the chest into the sack which she then tied around her waist, and extinguished the candle so that she would not be seen by whatever had done this to the knight. Something shrieked as more orange light came from down the corridor, followed by the sounds of movement and growling as if there was a fight going on, and this worried her since there were only a few creatures that could produce flame.

It was not a two-headed _Gleeok_ or anything similar that appeared shortly later, however, but a robed figure that illuminated the stone dungeon each time that flame gathered in his hand. Tossing fireball after fireball as he backed into Miranda's chamber, there was more shrieking from unseen creatures, until the robed figure tripped on a bone, and fell onto his back. He let out a cry of agony after falling, and his left arm hung useless as if broken, but the most concerning thing was the Zora that leapt upon him an instant later. He tried to toss the flame at it, but the creature was too quick, knocking his arm out of the way, and making him scream as it sunk its teeth into his shoulder.

Reacting to this purely on instinct, and ignoring her own safety, Miranda stood up and fired her hook shot in an attempt to save him. The creature groaned with surprise as the grapple sunk into its shoulder, and the good news was that it was now ignoring the robed figure, but the bad news was that it was now focused on _her_. It grabbed the chain and started pulling, and since not enough time had passed to be able to use the bracelet again, she was pulled off her feet, and was now being dragged toward the Zora. There was nothing to grab onto in order to stop herself, not that she would have been strong enough anyhow, but then the creature shrieked again as the robed figure struck it in the face with another fireball.

Apparently these creatures really hated fire, because it ripped the grapple out of its scales before running back down the corridor, allowing the hook shot to retract as she got to her feet. The robed figure was also moving again, but he was having much more trouble moving than she was, so she went over to help him up, and they both gasped when she saw each other's faces in the light from his flame. It was him, the one who had posed as an evil Wizzrobe to rob her father's carriage, and whom she hadn't been able to stop thinking about since their kiss.

"You." He groaned while reaching his arm up toward her. "Please… we have to get out of here… help me."

On that they could agree, and she wasn't about to just leave him there, so she took his good arm around her shoulder, and allowed him to lean heavily on her when he tried to stand. He looked like he had been dragged through hell; large bite marks on his body, and his arm broken, but as much as she liked the idea of his body against hers, Miranda's biggest concern was obvious now that they were moving.

"I don't know the way out." She whispered, trying to hide her fear.

"I do." He groaned in reply, pointing at the floor. "These are the overflow sewers for Lake Hylia… so follow the water, because if it can get out… so can we."

It was a good plan, and it embarrassed her that she wouldn't have figured that out on her own, but it also let her know that this blue-skinned young man had a strong mind on top of the athletic frame that she could feel underneath his robes. Then again, she couldn't believe that she was having thoughts like this while Zora were trying to eat them, and speaking of the fish-monsters, there were more coming. She didn't want to use her hook shot again, since he was dependent on her being able to stand, so they kept moving while he tossed flame into the darkness.

" _Hechizo_!" He called out while pointing at the nearest creature.

Instead of flame, it was a bright light that engulfed the creature, and when the light faded, it had been turned into a Bot, that the other Zora's all immediately attacked, probably no longer recognizing it as one of their own. This went on for what felt like hours, although Miranda was sure that it couldn't have been that long. Still, it _felt_ long as they continued to follow the flowing water while scaring off the Zoras until finally a light could be seen in the distance. It was a drainage pipe at the end of the corridor, like the one she had climbed into, although she doubted that it was the same one.

"Almost there." She said to him. "All we have to do it get out that pipe, and then I'll get you some help."

"Don't need help." He replied with a pained voice. "Just need time uninterrupted… to heal myself with magic."

The Zoras seemed to be backing off a little the closer they got to the pipe, and now Miranda could hear the pouring rain somewhere above them. Then there was a flash of lightning, followed by an incredibly loud crash of thunder that made the fish-monsters scurry back into the darkness out of fear. This was good, since now she had the time to set him down and help him get out through the smaller pipe, and it was discovered that the rain had really picked up once they were outside. The sky was getting dark, and the wind was blowing harshly, meaning that night would soon fall, but there was hope, since Miranda recognized the area.

"That's Port Hylia way over there!" She exclaimed, pointing to some buildings off in the distance. "Come on, we'll be safe if we can get there."


	22. Chapter 22 Dragon Mausoleum

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Twenty Two: Dragon Mausoleum**

It was always pretty disorienting, waking up in a different place after taking a good hit to the head. One minute Link was fighting that strange knight, then the young man got a real close look at his opponents shield, and the next thing he knew, he was moving very quickly as he looked up into the dark gray clouds that still covered the sky. The rain had picked up again, and it was falling in waves, which actually felt on his face, since he was still feeling every inch of the knight's shield that had struck him. The refreshing feeling was then ended, when something slammed into his upper back, causing him to flip over, and get a mouthful of the rocky mud he was being dragged across.

Now his situation was starting to make sense as more rocks tore across his body; his wrists were tied above his head, connected by a rope to one of the Lynels that were galloping ahead. He also wasn't alone; Façade was being dragged along in the same way a short distance to the side, and apparently the Prince wasn't having a good day either, because his face was caked with blood. So, they had been ambushed and captured, there was still no sign of Agahnim, if he was even still alive, and now they were being taken to who knows where? There was little chance of fighting off the Lynels without weapons, since they had both been disarmed at some point, not that they would be much good in a fight after being dragged like that.

The good news was that they had thankfully left all their chests back at the cave with Impa, and although their current situation was pretty awful, that armored knight did not seem to be around. But where were they going? They Lynels dragged them alongside a river for a time, before crossing it, and heading southeast until a few dead trees began to appear mixed in across the dirt and rocks. Slowly there came more and more dead trees, as well as statues alongside the trail, that looked like the one that had attacked the young man at the thieves' den, all this meaning that they were starting to move away from Death Mountain. Of course, if they went any farther east, it would take them into the old graveyard, and no one wanted that.

Thankfully, the Lynels took a sharp turn at a junction in the trail just as the edges of the graveyard walls were coming into view through the dead trees, and now they were headed up a slight incline. The trails had become old cobblestone now, which was better than random jagged rocks, but this difference soon meant nothing, since the Lynels came to a stop once they reached the top of the hill, where a grand entranceway awaited. There were several more of the warrior-looking statues lined up on both sides of the walkway leading up to a stone entrance which was shaped like a dragon's head with its mouth open so that in order to ender the doors, one had to step through the teeth.

It was a great relief to have the strain taken off his arms, but when the Lynels cut him free and pulled him to his feet, the young man couldn't help but cry out from the soreness of trying to put his arms down. Façade was having the same problems as well, both of them groaning and limping as they were brought closer to the entrance… where Darknut was waiting for them. The Lynels kicked them in the back of the knees to make them kneel once they got up to him, and continued to hold their arms, but the knight's attention was not focused on them. Instead he was looking at the figures now coming out of the doorway. Three that could have passed for older versions of Agahnim, with their blue skin and robes, and then there was the other…

"Ah, excellent." Darknut said as the group reached him. "Ganondorf will be pleased at the efficiency of the Wizzrobes."

Apparently the Wizzrobes had captured the other, since his arms were shackled behind his back, and from his armor, Link could tell that he was a knight of Hyrule, as he looked just like the one he had seen strung up in the thieves' den. He had apparently also been having a rough day, since his armor was dented or missing in places, he had cuts and bruises on his exposed skin, and some blood was dripping from his mouth when the Wizzrobes made him kneel. One of the robed wizards then took something out from under his robe, and Link gasped when he saw that it was one of the wooden chests with the royal family emblem.

"We caught this one a few days ago, trying to hide it inside." The first Wizzrobe said as he handed it over. "Of course, had he somehow avoided our detection, the chest would never have been found in a hundred years, so we respect his gamble."

"Ganondorf will _never_ rule this land." The prisoner said defiantly. "Once King Harkinian discovered the truth about him, he will…

The prisoner's words suddenly became a startled gasp as Darknut drew his sword and plunged it into his chest all the way to the hilt. The other end of the blade was covered in blood when it came out through his back, and stayed this way as the dark knight ripped it back out. The prisoner gasped for a few seconds as blood began pouring from both his mouth and the new wound, but then became silent after falling over sideways. But the dark knight was not finished yet, and Link could only watch in horror as the prisoner's head was chopped off, and Darknut held it up in the air proudly, before tossing it at Façade.

The Prince let out a startled scream as the bloody neck hit his armor in the chest piece, and even the Lynels were laughing as they let him go in order to watch him fall stumble before falling on his rear. Darknut walked toward him, presumably to continue the torment, but then it was the dark knight who cried out in surprise when Façade picked up a handful of mud, and tossed it into the eye-slits on his helmet. The Prince then jumped up and ran at him, but one of the Wizzrobes vanished, reappearing right in front of him with a kick to the wounded side of his face. Façade stumbled back, and then threw a punch at him, but the Wizzrobe vanished again, this time kicking him in the back so that he fell in the mud face first as Darknut was recovering.

"Annoying to the last." The dark knight chuckled while walking away. "Now, I must return this chest to Ganondorf… I trust that you Wizzrobes can see to my little friends, here?"

"Of course." The second robed wizard replied. "We will put them in a cell immediately, and tell Ganondorf that with all the, um, _activities_ we have planned… these two won't have time to worry about him or the Princess."

Darknut nodded to them, before chuckling to himself as he walked away, and leaving them to the Lynels, who pulled Façade to his feet. Link was also shoved forward, the two of them being moved through the entrance, and into a surprisingly clean corridor that was made of white stone. There were several rooms on each side of the hall, most occupied by Wizzrobes who appeared to be practicing many of the same spells that the young man had seen Agahnim perform, and each room held many engraved compartments on the walls, as if this place really was an old mausoleum.

"We sure hope you boys like it here." One of the Wizzrobes laughed. "And we're sure you will, since our torture facilities are top of the line… however, our living accommodations are somewhat, uh… under par, you could say, and don't tell anyone I said this… but sometimes we forget to feed our prisoners."

"Great." Link replied nervously. "Sounds lovely."

They were moved through that corridor, then down several flights of stairs, to a much older and more seldom used area of the crypts. There, they were shoved through an open door into a small, dark room, and the door was slammed shut the moment they were in. A set of heavy locks could be heard clicking closed, and then the Wizzrobes and Lynels could be heard walking away until there was nothing but silence. Exhausted from everything that happened, Link leaned against the wall, and slowly sunk to the floor, and a similar sound was heard on the other side of the room, meaning that the Prince had the same idea. Then there was a new sound, one that Link had not expected to hear.

"Façade, are you…" The young man asked. "Façade, are you crying?"

"And what if I am?" Façade's voice answered from the darkness. "It would just be one more of the many humiliations I've faced today. Beaten by peasants, captured and imprisoned by monsters, all these things I can handle… but Darknut, he… he nearly sliced half my face off, and… how can I ever expect someone as perfect and beautiful as Zelda to love me now?"

Link couldn't help but feel sorry for the Prince, no matter how much he didn't like him, so he tried to tell him that if Zelda truly loved him, it wouldn't matter that he had a huge scar across the left side of his face. After all, most girls that Link knew, thought battle scars were attractive, but Façade just couldn't get past his looks being spoiled. So the Prince just kept sobbing, probably into his hands, because the sound became muffled a moment later, and then yet another sound was heard. Not from the crying Prince, but one of stone slowly scraping along more stone. Straining his ears to figure out what it was, Link received the surprise of his life when a torch ignited, and there stood a Moblin in front of a secret door in the rear wall.

"What?!" The young man asked as he jumped up. "Where did you…

"Shhh!" The Moblin whispered harshly. "It's a secret to _everybody_ … now follow me, quickly."


	23. Chapter 23 Recovery

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Twenty Three: Recovery**

Groaning as they made their way toward the port town in the distance, Agahnim wished that they could stop long enough for him to heal himself with his magic, but that could take a long time, and it would've left them open to being attacked again. Now that the constant fighting was over for the time being, the robed wizard was feeling every one of his injuries that he had sustained from fighting Ganondorf, as well as the Zoras attempts to eat him, making it hard to move at all, let alone walk. It was helping to lean be able to lean on the girl who had pretty much saved his life, but that didn't stop the pain, and the slippery ground wasn't helping.

"Almost there." She said while wiping the rain from her eyes with her free hand. "I know it hurts, but just… just stay awake, all right? What's your name?"

"Agahnim." He groaned, his legs almost giving out. "I need to get back to the… Eastern Forest… have to tell Link… I failed."

He didn't like to think of himself a failure, but it was true. Ganondorf had given him a pretty thorough beating, but the worst of it was that the sorcerer had taken the chest. Impa had told them that there were a bunch of them, so there was only a small chance that it was the important one, but he had still let his best friend down. Link and the old woman were probably worried sick about him by now, and he had probably rushed up to what was left of Lizard Mine to save him, but he would find nothing. The only good thing to come of this was being able to lean on this incredibly beautiful girl, and the robed wizard wasn't sure, but there was a chance that she was in the carriage they pretended to rob.

"Agahnim?" She asked, trying to support his weight better. "My name is Miranda… no, no, don't fall… try to keep standing… come on stay up… that's it."

"I'm trying." He groaned while breathing heavily. "Thank you, Miranda… thank you for helping me."

It felt like the walk took forever and a day, but finally they passed the city limits of Port Hylia, and at least the cobblestone streets were easier to walk on than loose mud. Still, the city was large, and the robed wizard's legs were just about to give out, when Miranda turned, and he sighed with relief as they moved up to the door of an inn. Thankfully, there were hardly any people around as they went inside, and the ones who were there didn't pay any attention to them, but then they came to a flight of stairs. Of course, her room just _had_ to be on the second floor, and the agonizing trek up the stairs was worse than the whole journey from the sewers to the inn had been all together.

"Miranda?!" A voice exclaimed just as they approached a door. "I thought you went with… who is this, uh… person, and… dear me, what happened to him?"

"Father, I'm, um… so glad to see you." She replied. "He's hurt, help me get him into the room."

Agahnim was relieved that the older man didn't hold them up with any more questions, instead just helping her to hold him up as she opened the door to her room, and then the two of them moved him over to the bed. They tried to be gentle as they lowered him onto it, but somehow it hurt even more to finally be able to relax his body completely. Miranda was still trying to make him comfortable, when her father motioned for her to follow as he left the room, giving him the first time alone that he had since entering Lizard Mine.

" _Vitalidad_." He said quietly while clutching his broken arm.

There was a barely visible wave of distortion from his hand, and he sighed with relief as the healing magic began to dull the pain he was feeling. It would take a good amount of time, and several casts of the spell in order to fix his arm, as well as the rest of his body, but it was a start. Suddenly there was a wet snapping sound as the bone set itself into place, making him have to clinch his teeth together in order to avoid crying out from the sharp burst of pain that came with it.

"So is he the one?" He heard Miranda's father ask from out of the room. "Is that boy in there the reason you sneak out at all hours?... Don't look at me like that, I'm your father, you think I wouldn't check on the safety of my only daughter at night?... So is he the one you have been seeing?"

"Yes." Agahnim was surprised to hear her say after a brief hesitation. "Yes, he is _exactly_ the reason I sneak out… yes, to see him… and I'll have you know, father, that he was injured saving me from, uh… bandits… yes, I was on my way home from that _horrible_ trip I had to take earlier today, and Agahnim saved me when I was attacked… because a young woman like me couldn't possibly defend herself."

Still inside the room, Agahnim was confused by the words she was saying, as if Miranda was trying to quickly come up with a set of lies in order to hide… something. Did she simply not want to worry her father with the story of how they barely escaped a dozen hungry Zoras? But then again she had apparently been sneaking out at night… a lot… and it certainly hadn't been to see him, so the robed wizard wondered what she was really hiding. The pain in his arm was slowly decreasing while Miranda was heard finally convincing her father to allow her to tend to him, and then she came back into the room, sighing heavily once she closed and locked the door.

"Do boys have to deal with this?" She asked, turning to face him. "Nosey parents who question their every move for fear that they are being _improper_? Or is it only girls who are automatically considered _whores_ if they go somewhere without a chaperone for a few hours?"

"I couldn't tell you." He replied as she walked over to him. "I don't have any parents… but it sounds like he cares about you."

She just stood there, looking down at him for several seconds while he recast the healing spell that was steadily improving his arm. The robed wizard was starting to be able to move his fingers again, and the spell was also beginning to dull the pain in the rest of his body, but this was offset when Miranda suddenly slapped him in the mouth so hard that it stung.

"Ow!" Agahnim cried out. "What was that for?!"

"For kissing me without permission." She replied harshly. "It _was_ you, wasn't it? The one who stole me from the carriage and shoved your tongue down my throat during your little staged robbery? Pretending to be an evil Wizzrobe to scare my father into giving your friend a reward, who do you think you are?"

She slapped him again twice, but the third time he grabbed her wrist, which only resulted in her slapping him with the other hand since he could still barely move the injured one. Miranda just kept slapping him, and yes, he deserved it, but that didn't mean he was going to just lay there and let her abuse him. So ducking down a little, he attempted to catch both of her wrists with one hand, but instead she grabbed his hand with both of hers and bent it backwards while pinning it against the headboard.

"What, no picking me up and teleporting this time?" She asked, bending his hand back more as she sat on the bed. "Now, I want you to apologize for taking advantage of me like that."

"I'm sorry!" Agahnim groaned. "I'm sorry, Miranda, I'm sorry! I was wrong for doing that, please let go!"

Seeming to be satisfied, Miranda let go of him, and the robed wizard wanted to massage his sore wrist, but with his other arm only partially healed, he could do nothing but lay there. Again, she just sat there for several seconds, before reaching for him again, causing Agahnim to jump a little. But instead of hitting him again, she put her hands on his cheeks and kissed him just as deeply as he had done to her during the staged robbery. This time it lasted for a lot longer, though, not that he minded when her arms went around him, and she lay partially on top of him. Miranda smelled so good, with her kiss making him forget all about his pain, and he was sad when their lips finally parted.

"Oh, my." Agahnim said with a pleased exhale. "I don't think I will _ever_ understand women, but… I think I can live with that."

"Yes, that was nice." She whispered, giving him another quick kiss before she sat up. "You should probably finish healing yourself now, wizard."

Miranda winked at him as she stood up, but then there was a wooden _thud_ as the chest she had found down in the sewers slipped out of the pocket of her dress and hit the floor. To say that Agahnim was surprised to see that it had the symbol of Hyrule's royal family on it would have been an understatement, and he couldn't help gasping the moment he saw it. But where had it come from? It couldn't have been the one from Lizard Mine, since Ganondorf had taken that one personally, so… had there been one down in the sewers? But why? Why would Zelda have sent a scout down into that death trap?

"That chest!" He exclaimed while pointing at it. "It's one of the ones that Princess Zelda hid from Ganondorf! I'm sorry, Miranda, but I need to get it back to Impa right away!"

"Wait, how do _you_ know Impa?" She demanded, picking up the chest from the floor. "Explain yourself, wizard… what do you know about these chests?"


	24. Chapter 24 The Old Man

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Twenty Four: The Old Man**

The torch-carrying Moblin led them out of their prison cell in Dragon Mausoleum, and through an upwardly sloping tunnel that had carved right through the base of Death Mountain. But what Prince Façade wanted to know, was why the tunnel had been dug there in the first place. There had to be dozens, if not a _hundred_ rooms where he and Link could have been held, but then he got his answer when they reached a junction in the tunnel. This area was illuminated by wall torches, and in the orange light, he could see that there were dozens of branching tunnels, each going to a different area.

"You tunneled into more rooms?" He asked, considering using the others to surprise the Wizzrobes and get their weapons back. "How many?"

"All rooms, actually." The Moblin explained. "Our great leader is wise, and knew that one day such a tunnel would be needed… although sometimes his visions are not the clearest, hence the many tunnels."

"Well, we appreciate the rescue, either way." Link added. "But I thought all Moblins served Ganondorf."

The creature leading them down the tunnel laughed for a moment, and then began an explanation of how the few Moblin tribes that served the sorcerer had only done so for a short number of decades, as was the case with most of his followers. Ganondorf was a great sorcerer, to be sure, but it was his alliance with the Triforce of Power that truly brought the hoards to kneel at his feet. Before that, Ganondorf had been nothing but a traveling thief, combining his knowledge of magic with the fighting skills of his partner, Darknut, which was how they made their original fortune.

"Like me and Agahnim." Link said quietly.

"Quite." The Moblin replied. "But I shall say no more… our great leader is just ahead, and he will tell you the rest of what you need to know."

"I look forward to meeting him." Façade added. "So who is this leader of yours? Is he far?"

The Prince had only finished the question, when the tunnel suddenly ended at a thick wooden door. The Moblin pushed it open, and then the three of them walked into the open air to find that the rain had stopped. The sun had also gone down, leaving a bright full moon in its place, and in the silvery light, Façade saw rocks, dead trees, and gravestones. However, they were not inside the graveyard itself, but on the fenced off land that surrounded a small cottage. It's close distance to the tombstones, as well as the tools in the yard, made him think that this place was perhaps the gravedigger's home, but like all who traveled through Hyrule, the Prince knew that it was a bad idea to venture too close to the old burial ground.

"This way, please." The Moblin continued. "Our great leader awaits you inside the house."

Link followed the creature without hesitation, so Façade did the same… after all, if the Moblin had intended to kill them, he could've done so already, since their weapons had been taken from them. Anyway, it led them into the small cottage, where a dim orange light from the fire revealed an old man sitting on a rocking chair in the corner. His skin was heavily wrinkled, and his white beard appeared large and unkempt, barely showing the movements of his mouth when he smiled upon seeing them.

"Ah, my guests." The old man said happily as he motioned for them to come closer. "Please, come in, sit down… thank you Sidney, you may go."

"Sidney?" Link asked as the Moblin bowed and left. "Odd name for a Moblin."

Not wanting to be rude, the Prince walked across the small room and sat on one of the chairs, with Link joining them a moment later. Now the old man took a little time looking at them, first spending over a minute looking at Façade, and next doing the same to Link as if this was some kind of examination. Once finished, he smiled again while leaning back in the chair, rocking slightly back and forth.

"So the two of you _finally_ come before me." The old man began. "Young men with lives as different as they can be, but sharing the same quest to defeat the evil sorcerer and save the beautiful Princess. You, Façade of Arcadia, are a young man in love; you defied your mother, stole your family's magical heirlooms, and have become engaged to marry your precious Zelda without her father's consent."

"Seriously?" Link asked with genuine surprise. "You _rogue_ , you."

"King Harkinian will come around." The Prince argued, folding his arms. "When I rescue his daughter and return the Triforce of Power, he'll be _begging_ me to marry her."

"Oh, of course." The old man continued. "And you, Link of the Eastern Forest, are a petty criminal, but your heart is good. You seek a fortune to make a better life, one of respect and renown, but be warned… you and your wizard friend walk a mirrored path to that of Ganondorf and Darknut… how will the Triforce of Power affect you in the end, I wonder?"

"Is Agahnim still alive?" Link replied, ignoring the rest for the moment.

Chuckling to himself, the old man waved his arm toward the nearby fire, and then the dancing flames began to form swirling images. Towns, people, forests, and even castles appeared in the orange light, and the old man leaned closer before beginning to speak.

"Alive, yes." He answered as the flame images changed. "He was defeated by your enemy and left for dead, but was rescued by a Lady Thief who shares your quest. Blind… Blind is the one who tends to him… for while you, Link, were stealing her father's gold, Agahnim was stealing her heart."

" _Blind is a girl?!_ " Link and Façade both exclaimed as the image changed to show a hooded and masked figure.

Façade couldn't believe it; Blind the Thief a girl? The same Blind who managed to steal guarded treasures from Hyrule's Northern Palace, and whose reward for capture was nothing short of astonishing? The fiery images changed to show this masked figure breaking into Eagle Prison and doing battle with Goriya, and then the fire became a closer view of her as she took down the hood and removed her mask, showing her long dark hair and beautiful face.

" _Agahnim_ won _her_ over?" Link asked in disbelief. "Some people have all the luck, eh, Façade?"

"Hold a moment." Façade replied as he looked closer. " _Miranda?!_ Are you telling me that _Lady Miranda_ , the cousin of my Zelda, is _Blind the Thief?!"_

The images in the fire faded just as it was showing Agahnim and Miranda kissing, and the Prince was in total disbelief. How could such a prominent young woman of such high standing become a renowned criminal? He had known Miranda since they were children, and yes, the girl always liked to take things that were not hers, including his teddy bear when he was six, which Façade never got back. But she and Zelda were inseparable, the kind of girls who told each other everything, and he meant _everything_. Zelda had even told her about the awkward first they had shared at a royal ball when he was twelve, and for _years_ Miranda laughed at him while making strange horse-like movements with her mouth.

So how could Zelda have not known something like that? Or maybe… she did? Was it possible that Zelda knew Blind's real identity this whole time? And if so… had the Princess ever joined her for a night of crime? For a moment Façade had a strange image in his mind, of his love dressed up to pass herself off as a man, with her hair tightly under wraps to make it appear shorter, a mask over her nose and mouth, and maybe some really tight fitting dark clothes… and maybe a knife? The Prince couldn't help smiling a bit as he pictured her breaking into his bedchamber late at night, and then standing over him with her blade at his throat.

 _"I've got you now, Façade." Zelda would say while tossing off his blanket. "I am the evil, and beautiful, uh… Sheik? Yes, Sheik the Thief, and I've come for both your gold… and your innocence_."

 _"Oh, please do not hurt me, you gorgeous and deadly fiend." He would say back as she pinned him down. "I am at your mercy, and I will do anything you want in order to…_

This fantasy was ended when the old man smacked him on the forehead, bringing the Prince back into the reality of sitting in that small cottage. Oh, well, this was not the time for fantasy, it was the time for action. Zelda was still a prisoner of Gargamel, and he would not rest until the villain was dead, and the Princess was safe. Then they would get married, and after that, perhaps they could discuss an encounter with _Sheik the Thief_. For now, he and Link needed to get their weapons back from the Wizzrobes… somehow.

"Do not worry about your weapons." The old man replied, as if reading his thoughts. "My Moblins will have retrieved them by the time you return."

"Return from what?" Link asked. "Where are we going?"

The old man then pointed to the window, and the two of them looked out to see nothing but the graveyard stretched out before them. The tombstones, dead trees, and rest of the landscape were illuminated by the moon's silver light, but this somehow made the place seem even more frightening.

"You want us to go… into the graveyard?" Façade asked, looking back at him. "In the middle of the night?"

"Only if you wish to defeat Ganondorf." The old man explained as he stood up. "With the Triforce of Power on his side, he is invincible, and since you seem to have been running into some _problems_ on your search for the Triforce of Wisdom, you will need every advantage you can find. Now come along… the _Master Sword_ awaits you."


	25. Chapter 25 Across the Water

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Twenty Five: Across the Water**

Night had fallen. The rain had finally stopped about an hour before sundown, and Miranda was lighting some candles while Agahnim moved his completely healed arm around to make sure it worked. It had taken a good amount of time, but all of his injuries had been taken care of so well by his magic that it looked like he had never been hurt in the first place, and it was nice to see him walking around the room on his own. Thankfully her father had chosen not to bother them very often, not just because of her romantic interest in the robed wizard, but also because they had a lot to talk about.

First there was the matter of the chest that she had recovered from the old sewers, and after it was discovered that Agahnim had been tasked by Impa to find the others, she revealed the one that she had taken from Eagle Prison. Apparently he, as well as a friend of his, named Link, had recovered a few others as well, although Ganondorf had stolen one of them. Miranda didn't blame him for losing one of them, after all, she had not only recently lost Zelda herself to him, but also broken the recorder that was the only safe way into Spectacle Rock that she knew of. And then there was the matter of her being Blind the Thief, an identity that she needed to both trust him with as well as resume in order to save Zelda.

"Your secret is safe with me… _Blind_." He promised while kissing her hand. "The _last_ thing I would want, would be for the guards to take you away."

"Thank you, Agahnim." She replied, putting her other hand on his. "Not just for that, but for _everything_ you've done, and suffered through for my cousin. When Zelda is safe, I'll make sure that Uncle Harkinian rewards both you and your friend handsomely."

Agahnim smiled a little as she said this, causing Miranda to smile as well, and they had just started to kiss again, when they had to quickly separate when the door was opened by her father. He hadn't appeared to have seen anything, since the lanterns in the hallway were so much brighter than the few candles in her room, but she still wished that he would knock once in a while. Yes, he was her father, and had given her baths as a baby and all that, but a girl still needed some privacy once in a while.

"Well, young man, you seem to be doing much better." He said as he walked in. "To tell you the truth, when you came in here, I thought you were going to die."

"In that case, Lord Rul, I am happy to disappoint you." The robed wizard replied. "But I owe my recovery to your daughter, she, uh… saved my life."

Her father looked him over for a long time, and then looked at Miranda. She hoped that he would pick up on how much she liked Agahnim, and that would somehow discourage him from saying anything ignorant. Well, _ignorant_ was the wrong word, but fathers tended to be a little _too_ protective of their daughters, which did nothing but drive away the decent ones.

"The carriage will be here for us at sunrise." Rul continued, still looking back and forth at each of them. "But I can travel back to Manji Estate alone… if you wish to stay in Port Hylia for a few more days… I assume you live in this city, uh… Agahnim, was it?"

"Yes, my Lord." The robed wizard replied. "Well… fairly close to it, anyway."

"And I was just going to see him out." Miranda added. "After we finish our conversation, that is. Are you turning in for the night, father?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so." Rul said with a sudden yawn. "In my youth, I could stay up all night and still tend my daily duties, but _Father Time_ is a cruel master, so I must say good night, my dear. And to you as well, Agahnim."

Agahnim bowed a little, and then Rul was gone after giving Miranda a kiss on the cheek. She hated lying to her father, but anything she could tell him involving the truth, would have only put him in danger. If she told him about trying to save Zelda, he would have tried to stop her, and if she warned him about Ganondorf, he might've accidently said something to one of the Sorcerer's spies, which would put him in even more danger. No, he had to be kept in the dark, and if her father believed that she snuck out every night to see Agahnim, then that was for the best.

"Zelda had eight of these chests." Miranda explained once they were alone. "And if we add up the ones you and Link found, as well as mine, and the one Ganondorf took, then there can only be as many as three left. Now, based on the direction my compass was pointing when we got back to town, I believe that the next one is inside _Snake Palace_."

"The island next to Eagle Prison?" Agahnim asked when she showed him the compass. "Where the Governor of the Southern Outskirts lives?"

Looking out the window, the island palace in question could be seen in the full moon's light, as well as by all of the torches around the outside. Both the island, as well as the palace were constantly patrolled by guards, and unlike Eagle Prison, there was no convenient bridge that connected the island to the mainland. Granted, the island wasn't too far away, but they would still need a way across. It was too risky to steal a boat, and after everything that happened with the Zoras, Miranda never planned on getting in the water again… too bad they couldn't fly… or could they?

"Agahnim?" She asked a little hesitantly. "When you vanish and reappear like that… if you went up into the air… do you have to touch the ground again… or can you keep reappearing in the air? Like… I don't know… going across water, for instance?"

"What do you mean, _staying in the air_?" He replied. "Are you talking about… are you talking about using my teleporting abilities to somehow… _fly_?! Miranda, I know I make it look easy, since I've been teleporting since I was a boy, rapid movements like that take _a lot_ out of you, and that's if I was _by myself_. Even moving you back and forth out of your father's carriage was tiring."

His answer was disappointing, but Agahnim was the expert on such things, so there wasn't much she had to argue with if he said it was too tiring. If only there was a way to give him a chance to rest, but there were no rafts or other islands along the way, so once he got tired, they would simply fall.

"That's it!" She exclaimed. "You can fall! Take us up into the air as high as you can, and then fall for a couple seconds to catch your breath, and do it again. I imagine it would be a little slower, but do you think you could do it?"

"I don't know." He replied, taking a moment to think. "Maybe."

That was all she wanted to hear. If it was possible, then there was a chance it could be done, and when she said their only other option was to swim, Agahnim reluctantly agreed. Yes, she guilted him about what could happen to her if she were taken by the Zoras again, and made sure to boost his confidence by saying that she was depending on him to protect her from those fish monsters. Next she decided to not give him a chance to argue, by asking him to turn around while she faced away to change into her Blind outfit. She knew that he was sneaking to look as she got dressed, as any man would, and that was fine.

"Are you ready?" She asked, putting on her mask and hood.

" _Byrna_." He replied, changing the color of his robe with magic. "Ready."

Blowing out the candles, and sneaking out the window as she had done several times before, Agahnim stayed out of sight by vanishing and reappearing, while she crept through the shadows. It was not far to the docks, which was the closest point from the mainland to the island in question, and continuing to stay out of sight, they moved to the very edge of the longest dock. There were no ships incoming, or guards in the immediate vicinity, so this was their best time to attempt _flying_ across the water. So, Agahnim picked her up into his arms, and Miranda put her arms around his neck before they vanished.

Suddenly they were up in the air, high above the water, and Miranda shut her eyes, tightening her grip on him when they started to fall. Then the falling feeling stopped for a second, only to begin again, and this time they fell for a bit longer before it stopped again. Agahnim's breathing was starting to become labored as these efforts continued, and each fall lasted for longer and longer, with Miranda yelping with fright when she heard something that sounded like his boot hitting the water before they went up again.

And then it stopped. Suddenly they were no longer falling, but she was still clinging onto him tightly, with her eyes shut, and face buried into his shoulder. Somehow it took a while for her to realize this, so it wasn't until Agahnim was able to catch his breath, that she opened her eyes and looked around. They were on the island, and the robed wizard was sitting on the rocky ground, against the outer wall of Snake Palace, with Miranda just kind of sitting on his lap.

"We made it?" She asked, still looking around.

"It looks that way." He replied with a big smile on his face. "But do you realize what this means, Miranda? I _flew…_ like a _bird_ … sort of. Who knows, with enough practice, maybe I'll be able to fly even _greater_ distances! I don't think… I don't think any other wizard has ever tried anything like that before!"

It was truly incredible what he had been able to accomplish, since for a while there, Miranda thought that they were going to end up in the water, but there was no time to celebrate, since the approaching light of torches carried by guards was starting to come into view. So Miranda rolled off of him, and together they crept away from the guards, going along the wall in search of an entry point.


	26. Chapter 26 The Master Sword

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Twenty Six: The Master Sword**

"The Master Sword is truly a weapon of evil's bane." The old man explained as they left the cottage. "It is said to be able to overcome even the most powerful of dark warriors and magic, but it can only be wielded by the truest hero of the land. One who would sacrifice all to do the right thing, who would never use its power for selfish purposes, and most importantly… can be trusted to return it once it is no longer needed."

Link considered these words as he and Prince Façade followed the old man across his small yard, to the gate in the fence that linked it to the edge of the graveyard beyond. There was a rusty _click_ as the iron latch unlocked, and the young man had the urge to cover his ears to shield them from the horrible _squeak_ that the gate made when he pushed it open. Suddenly a cold wind picked up, as if the graveyard was much colder than everywhere else, and the gate had somehow been shielding them from it.

"The problem is that I have _two_ potential heroes before me." The old man continued, turning back to face them. "So, the only solution is to have you compete for it. The Master Sword sleeps at the far end of the graveyard, and once you step inside, it will only be reachable for a short time, so think of it as a race."

"A race sounds fine." Link replied. "Think you can keep up, Façade?"

"Was that a joke?" The Prince replied. "I will leave you in the dust."

"Know this, young heroes." The old man warned. "The sword does not care about your blood, your title, or your words. It judges you on your actions, alone, and you are not the first who have tried for it… but will you be the first to succeed? I can't wait to find out."

With that, the old man stepped out of the way, walking back across the small yard and disappearing back into his cottage, leaving the two of them standing there in front of the open gate. They looked at each other first, and then into the moonlit graveyard. Aside from the wind blowing the dead branches of the trees, there was not a sound to be heard, as if nothing had ventured into the ancient burial ground for longer than either of them had been alive. However, Link wasn't about to let fear stop him from getting the Master Sword, so he took off running into the graveyard, with Façade immediately following.

The cemetery was a massive landscape of hills and valleys, each covered with ancient stone markers, some in better condition than others, while cobblestone paths were lain throughout. Dead twigs snapped as the young man ran across them on his way down the path into one of the valleys, while Façade chose to take the high road in an attempt to take a shortcut over a steep hill. Link took note of the path his rival was taking, and started to pick up the pace, but then came to a screeching halt when a barely visible white distortion suddenly formed in front of him.

"What in the world?" He asked as it became clearer.

The top half of it looked slightly human, with a head and arms, but the bottom became a sort of spectral tail as the figure hovered above the ground. It then reached for him, but missed when Link stepped backwards. This ghostly figure was unnerving, but also slow enough for him to avoid, so he backed off for a second, and then ran around it; the apparition moaning as it reached out for him. It looked like he was safe, but then he grabbed onto one of the grave stones in order to take a sharp turn, only to gasp as another ghostly figure emerged from within the stone.

This one also grabbed for him, surprising the young man enough that he had to touch another grave stone in order to keep himself from falling over. Thus, another figure appeared, working with the others to sort of box him in by surrounding him on three sides. The only way for him to go was to turn around and run for it, but that meant he had to climb over another grave stone, creating yet another ghost as he bounded over it and was forced to grab the next one as well to keep from falling.

Now with five of the ghostly figures after him, they became much harder to avoid, since now instead of just trying to chase him, some would circle around while others would distract the young man as if they had done this kind of thing many times before. Meanwhile, Façade was making great time as he went over the top of the hill, and of course he wasn't touching any of the tomb stones, so there was nothing blocking his path to the other end of the graveyard. Of course, this left Link getting nowhere fast, so it was time to try something desperate. Suddenly running toward the figures, he dropped down at the last second, sliding right underneath them before getting up and running again, this time without touching any more stones.

Once past them, the ghosts were unable to corner him or even keep up as he resumed running down the path, making their numbers useless as they fell further and further behind. The Prince had a pretty strong lead on him now, so pushing himself to the absolute limits, the young man sprinted the rest of the way down into the valley, using the momentum to carry him up to the top of the next hill. However, Façade was still a good distance ahead of him, and the most irritating part was that his rival managed to keep this lead no matter how fast Link ran. Then he saw it; up ahead was the far wall of the graveyard, and built into the center of that wall was a grated tunnel… and the grate was open.

"Tough luck, Link!" Façade called as he looked back. "Looks like I won this race fair and…

The Prince's words suddenly became an outcry of surprise when he accidently took a single step off of the cobblestone path, and a rotting hand immediately grabbed his ankle when it shot out of the ground. Taken completely by surprise, Façade fell on his face, and began desperately kicking at the hand while the shifting dirt revealed that there was a whole rotting person attached to it. After a few solid kicks, he was able to free himself, but Link was also able to catch up with him during this distraction. The young man ran right past while his rival was getting up, but then another rotting man jumped up from the dirt and tackled the Prince.

Well, that did it; Link was sure to win now, but he would still have to hurry. By the time that Façade freed himself from those monsters, the young man would have passed through the tunnel, and claimed the Master Sword, but as he approached, he saw that the metal grate was slowly closing. It would take every ounce of his strength, but if nothing else got in his way, there was still a chance for him to reach the tunnel before it closed.

"Help!" Façade's voice called from behind. "Link, help me!"

Stopping as quickly as he could, Link turned around to see that although his rival was putting up a good fight, there were more and more rotting men surrounding him, and he could tell that the Prince would soon be overwhelmed. Looking at the tunnel, he saw that the grate was just about closed, but now the rotting men were tiring Façade out to the point where they were grabbing his arms and starting to drag him away. Still, the grate was closing, but he couldn't just let Façade get killed, so with a frustrated sigh, he turned back and started running.

Closing in on the group quickly, Link used one of the nearby grave stones as a spring board to leap high above them, and tackle the first rotting man that he reached. He then jumped up and punched the next one in the rotting mouth, causing enough of a distraction for the Prince to escape from their grip. From a distance away, Link was disheartened as he heard the metallic _clang_ of the grate closing over the tunnel, meaning that they had both failed. Now there was no way for them to get the Master Sword, and they still had the rotting men to deal with, as well as the ghostly figure that appeared when his foot touched the grave stone.

Not only that, but even more rotting men were now crawling out from under the dirt, and the ghostly figures that had been originally chasing Link were now catching up. They came floating over the hill, still reaching out for him, and now instead of fighting to simply defeat the monsters, the two of them were putting all of their energy into getting away.

"Come on, Façade!" Link yelled, pulling him free of the rotting men. "Come on, we have to get out of here!"

The way back to the old man's cottage was now almost completely blocked off by the ghosts and the rotting men, leaving them with nowhere to go but back toward the far wall, where their only escape was blocked by the now closed grate over the tunnel. Now they were both too tired to run, and without their weapons, there was no way to fight off this many creatures. Now they were completely trapped as the monsters closed in, and it looked like there was no way out, until the tunnel grate suddenly swung open.

"Quick!" Link exclaimed, pulling the Prince toward it.

Together they stumbled into the tunnel, with the grate slamming shut behind them, and then the ghosts simply vanished. The rotting men also stopped in their tracks, only to turn around and bury themselves back into the ground. Not quite understanding what had happened, but not complaining about it either, Link was about to continue down the tunnel, when he was stopped as Façade suddenly hugged him.

"You saved my life!" He yelled as Link tried to push him off. "You… you gave up the legendary _Master Sword_ to save _me_! I take back everything bad I ever said about you, and from this day forward I shall think of you as a brother!"

The Prince then kissed him on both cheeks, with Link now trying harder to get away from him, but then they both stopped as the sound of someone slowly applauding reached their ears. They looked further down the tunnel, and standing at the other end was the old man, clapping his hands while laughing to himself. Façade finally let go, and the two of them walked the entire length of the tunnel, finding that the old man was standing in front of a very large and ornate pedestal that had a blue-bladed sword stuck into it.

"Excellent, excellent." The old man said when they reached him. "You chose to save Prince Façade over all else, proving that you have what it takes to wield the Master Sword. Good thing, too, since it would have never allowed you to claim it, even if you got here in time, meaning that one of you would have died for nothing. Now go and claim it."

"You've earned it, Link." Façade added while gesturing toward it. "Congratulations."

Not wanting to be in this place any longer, Link did as they said, walking up to the sword, and putting his hands on the hilt. There was a slight rumbling in the ground, and white light emanating from the pedestal as he started to pull, and although Link expected it to take a lot of effort, the blade came out as if it were not being held at all. The young man could feel the power of the sword as he held it up into the air triumphantly, and with this weapon he knew that he could do anything… even defeat Ganondorf.


	27. Chapter 27 Lord Vire

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Twenty Seven: Lord Vire**

Now that he had somehow managed to _fly_ across the waters of Lake Hylia, Agahnim was feeling pretty confident in himself. This, plus surviving the Zora-infested sewers, and gaining the affections of a girl like Miranda, had the robed wizard ready to take on the world. For tonight, though, he was focused on helping Miranda find a way into Snake Palace. Together, they moved along the bottom of the outer wall, trying to stay ahead of the patrolling guards, whose torchlight threatened to expose them if they didn't keep moving. However, they had gone around almost half the wall, with no luck.

"There _has_ to be a window or _something_ around here." Miranda griped quietly. "Can't you just teleport us through the wall?"

"That is not a good idea." He explained. "I have no idea what's on the other side, or even how thick the wall is. If I try to teleport without being able to see where I'm going, we could reappear inside a rock, or a person, and I've heard enough horror stories about that to _know_ it's a bad idea."

Miranda sighed with disappointment, but it was the truth. There was no way he could teleport them through the outer wall of the palace… but maybe they could go _over_ it. It was worth a shot, and in the moonlight, he couldn't see any gates or windows on this side of the wall. So making her let out a startled gasp when he suddenly pulled her close, Agahnim looked up, and an instant later they were in the air, about half way up the wall. Now feeling very tired from this attempt after doing so much to get across the water, it became an exhausting struggle to manage the feat again, but even so, he fell a little short.

The top of the wall was about a meter away, but the robed wizard was so tired, that he just couldn't go the rest of the way. For a moment it seemed like they were doomed to fall back to the rocky ground, but then Miranda pointed her arm upward, and sunk her hookshot into the stone, stopping their fall. Both breathing a sigh of relief, she started to smile, but then the smile faded when the chain jerked, and they looked up to see that the grapple was slowly breaking through the old stone.

"What do we do?" Miranda asked, looking back at him. "I can't fire this again without unhooking it, and if I try to pull us up, we'll fall… we're just too heavy together."

"Okay… okay, I have an idea." He replied nervously, trying not to move. "I'm going to let go of you, and then try to teleport myself on top of the wall while you use that thing. Ready… go."

Agahnim let go of her, and it was nice to see Miranda catapult upward until she was safely on top of the wall, but that was where the nice part ended. He tried, but just couldn't manage to make himself vanish, so the robed wizard fell back down the wall, certain that he was about to bust his head open on the rocks, but then there was an outcry of surprise when he landed on something a lot softer than rocks. There was also more light now, and having the wind knocked out of himself, it took him a second to realize that he had landed on the two patrolling guards, with the light being from their fallen torch.

Now rolling off of the unconscious guards… or were they dead? He hoped they weren't dead, since he wasn't fond of killing unless he had to, but Agahnim didn't have a lot of time to check on them, since Miranda was probably already inside the palace by now. A quick casting of his healing spell took care of the minor injuries he had taken during the fall, and now he had to find a way in. As Agahnim had seen before, there were no windows on the wall, and… and he also hadn't seen any more patrolling guards… so why not check the front gate?

It probably wasn't the best idea, but he couldn't think of any other options at the time, so the robed wizard quickly moved back around the wall, all the way to the front, where he was surprised to see a complete lack of guards. There were none at the open gate, none at the door, or on the wall above, or… anywhere. But that was ridiculous; this was the home of the Governor of Hyrule's entire southern province, so how was it even possible for the front entrance to be unguarded.

He was about to head toward the door, when a kind of growling sound came from behind, so he spun around to see the two guards that he had fallen on. It was expected for them to not be very happy with him, and Agahnim was glad that they weren't dead, but something was wrong. Maybe it was a trick of the orange light, but their skin seemed to be a kind of bluish-purple color, and as they gritted their teeth, the robed wizard could see that they were very sharp. Before he could say anything, they let out a kind of hissing shriek, and leapt high up into the air, much higher than a regular person should have been able to.

"What the?" He asked while looking up at them.

With clawed fingers outstretched, they closed in to grab him, but Agahnim simply tossed a fireball, striking the first one in the chest. He shrieked before crashing to the ground hard, seeming to explode into a small swarm of bats that quickly flew away. The other guard had been knocked off course, but he still landed on his feet, wasting no time in rushing toward the robed wizard. Agahnim ducked down under his grabbing claws, coming back up with an uppercut that should have knocked him off his feet, but the guard barely twitched.

Agahnim punched him in the mouth, and spun around to kick him in the chest, but this did nothing, and the guard responded by shrieking again while running forward and tackling Agahnim to the ground. The guard then opened his mouth and tried to bite him, and probably would have succeeded if the robed wizard hadn't struck him in the stomach with another fireball the moment they landed. Just like the last one, this guard exploded into a small swarm of bats that flew away into the night sky. Now taking a moment to rest and figure out in his mind what just happened, Agahnim was just thankful that he could throw fire, and that there weren't any more of those things… or were there?

"Miranda!" He exclaimed while scrambling to his feet.

If there were more of those creatures in the palace, then it would explain why there had been hardly any other guards around, but as far as he knew, Miranda couldn't throw fire like he could. Agahnim was terrified at the prospect of something happening to her, so he forgot all about caution, running through the open gate, and not stopping until he was through the front door of the palace, which also happened to be unlocked. Once inside the grand main hall, the first thing he saw was bodies. There were dozens of guards lying dead on the floor, their skin pale, and no blood to be found, regardless of the puncture wounds on their necks. One of the bodies then sat up, its skin bluish-purple, and its clawed hands reaching.

Another fireball ended this one's existence, exploding it into a small swarm of bats that flew out the nearby open window, but so far there was no sign of Miranda. This was probably because she had entered the castle through a window or something on the upper levels, so Agahnim ran toward the central staircase, burning any of the bodies that sat up along the way. The palace itself was much smaller than the North Palace where the King lived, so there were only three floors, but each one had its share of these dead… demon… guard things.

"Miranda!" He called as he went from room to room. "Miranda, where are you?!"

Agahnim imagined that these creatures would've been hard to fight if he didn't have fire magic, but he did have it, so they were put down just as fast as they sat up. There was still no answer from Miranda as he stormed through the second floor, so it was back to the central stairs and up to the top floor of the palace, where a locked door awaited him. It was a solid barrier, with heavy metal bolts that were meant to keep out intruders, but they made one mistake. The keyhole was large as well; enough so for the robed wizard to look through into the next room, which in turn allowed him to successfully teleport inside.

The creatures inside were clearly taken by surprise at his sudden appearance, jumping up from the enormous dining table which they were sitting at, and quickly being destroyed by the dozens of fireballs that Agahnim threw before a single one of them could attack. Now they were gone, and he could see the true horror of the room; more bodies lying on the table, one in front of each chair where the creatures had been sitting, including the body of the province's stout Governor. The Governor's body was at the head of the table, in front of something that looked like the guards, but bigger and more bat-like features, including wings.

"Welcome." The monster said after appearing to drink the last of the Governor's blood through the neck. "Welcome to my palace, friend. I am Lord Vire… and you are?"

"Agahnim." The robed wizard replied while stepping forward. "You're pretty polite, seeing as I just killed most of your friends."

The bat-like Lord Vire chuckled for a second before standing up, making Agahnim gasp when he moved to the side, revealing that Miranda was shackled to a chair behind his. Her hood and mask were off, her weapons lying uselessly on the floor, and she appeared to be having some trouble breathing, while some blood dripped down from the small punctures on her neck.

"So, _you're_ Agahnim, are you?" Vire asked, moving around to the side of the table. "When I caught this _succulent_ little morsel, she was trying to escape from my chambers with a small chest… and it was _your_ name that she tried to scream when I pinned her down and sank my teeth into her neck. I was tempted to turn her right then, but her blood was so sweet, that I wanted to make it last… you think I can get a month out of her?"

Instead of yelling at the monster or expressing his rage, Agahnim's answer was to simply toss two fireballs at Vire, but the monster was much faster than its minions. Spreading his wings, Vire flew upwards to avoid the fire, and then it dove at the robed wizard at incredible speed, giving Agahnim less than a second to teleport out of the way. Vire hit the ground where he had been standing, and slid a little before slowing down enough to be able to turn around, so the robed wizard took advantage of the opportunity by tossing another fireball.

It struck Vire in the side, knocking him off balance enough for the creature to fall over, but unlike with the minions, it did not turn into a swarm of bats. In fact, aside from being a little singed, Vire was more or less unharmed. That meant that this battle was just beginning, and Agahnim was going to have to find some other way to defeat this monster if he wanted to save Miranda.


	28. Chapter 28 Saving Miranda

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Twenty Eight: Saving Miranda**

"Just to be clear, Agahnim." Lord Vire said as he slowly advanced. "After I defeat you, I'm going to shackle you to a chair right next to hers, so that you can watch the last bits of light fade from her eyes… and then I will do the same to _you_."

"Stop talking." The robed wizard ordered in response. "You forfeited your life the moment you put your decrepit hands on _my girl_ , so the only thing I have to say to you is _hechizo_!"

A flash of white was shot out from Agahnim's hands, but the winged monster was able to avoid it by taking to the air, making the spell disburse harmlessly against a bookcase. Vire then swooped down toward him, but the robed wizard vanished, reappearing across the room in order to try and free Miranda before the winged creature could circle around and come back. This happened a lot faster than Agahnim had guessed; only being able to free one of Miranda's arms before having to drop down to avoid being grabbed.

Unfortunately, floor was not low enough to keep the claws from finding their way into his robe, and they hooked into his skin as well, making the robed wizard cry out as Vire lifted him into the air. The winged monster carried him right out of the palace window, and a good distance away from the wall before dropping him, but Agahnim vanished once again the moment that the claws were released. Now it was Vire's turn to cry out as the robed wizard reappeared just above him, landing on the winged monster's back and wrapping his arms around its wings so that they could no longer flap.

The result was Vire screaming as they plummeted toward the ground, but Agahnim vanished right before they hit, making the winged creature slam into the ground and slid to a stop across the jagged rocks, while the robed wizard reappeared safely a short distance away. Vire's face and torso were bloodied, with arms shaking as he tried to get to his feet, only to get a close look at Agahnim's closed fist just as he was getting up, making the winged creature fall onto his back.

"You'll pay for that!" Vire yelled as he jumped to his feet. "No mortal has ever defeated Lord Vire!"

"Well, I'm gonna change that!" Agahnim yelled back. "I'm coming for you, Vire!"

The winged creature roared as they ran at each other, but Agahnim vanished right before they would have clashed, and Vire immediately turned around while making a wide slash with his claws in preparation for him to reappear behind him. Instead, Agahnim reappeared in the same spot he vanished from, giving him the chance to kick Vire in the lower back, making the winged creature fall on his face again. Now furious as he jumped back up, Vire leapt at him while making a wild swing that would have certainly cleaved the robed wizard's head off.

In response, Agahnim dropped down into a squatting position as the claw passed over him, and then he jumped up again, slamming his head into Vire's chin with all of his might. The winged creature's head reeled back as he stumbled away, but the robed wizard was nowhere near done with him. Leaning to the side to avoid another slash, Agahnim came back with a punch to the creature's throat, making Vire gasp as the attack continued. Now driving the winged creature back a couple steps with each hit, the robed wizard punched and kicked him in the head and torso until he was standing on the very edge of the rocky land.

" _Hechizo_!" Agahnim yelled, aiming his hands toward Vire.

This time the winged creature couldn't avoid the flash of light, letting out a scream as the spell engulfed him, and when the light faded, Lord Vire was nothing but a harmless gelatinous Bot. The battle was over, and no matter how much Vire jumped around in a rage, he was essentially helpless. Now, normally Agahnim would have been content to leave the formerly winged creature there, but he had hurt the robed wizard's crush, so he pulled back his leg, and gave the gelatinous creature a hard kick.

Vire made a kind of squeaking sound as he was sent flying over the edge and down toward the water, and for a moment Agahnim almost felt bad when he remembered that Bots were unable to swim. The gelatinous form quickly vanished beneath the waves, and the robed wizard kicked a small rock into the water after it, before turning back toward the palace. Two teleports later he was back inside the chambers, working quickly to free Miranda's legs and other arm from the chair.

"Agahnim?" She asked weakly as he was finishing. "Agahnim… I don't feel well."

"Try not to talk, Miranda." He replied, picking her up. "You've lost a lot of blood."

She was pale, and her breathing was quick and labored, while her attempts at talking were little more than low mumbles. The robed wizard wished that he was able to heal her as he could himself, but the spell just didn't work that way. What she needed was the Life Potion, but he had used the last of it on Impa, meaning that he would have to find the ingredients to make more. Just about to leave, Agahnim realized that her mask and other belongings were still on the floor, so he gathered them up in put them in his pockets.

"The chest." Miranda whispered. "Don't forget Zelda's chest."

"I already have it." The robed wizard replied while picking her up. "Now try to hold on to me."

Miranda's grip was weak as she put her arms around his neck, and then he ran for the window, leaping out, and then reappearing as far away from Snake Palace as he could. It was going to be a stretch, but trying to teleport all the way back to the mainland was the fastest way to get her to safety. Having started from much higher up, he had a little extra leeway for resting in mid-air, and this was probably what made him able to _just barely_ make it onto the shore of Port Hylia a few minutes later.

"Hold on, Miranda." He said, trying to catch his breath while carrying her toward the Merchant Quarter of the city. "Just try to stay awake, all right?"

She mumbled something in response, but he couldn't understand, so Agahnim decided to let her rest as he ran faster toward the first shop that he saw. From the ingredients and bottled liquids displayed in the window, he could tell that this was the right place, and there was lantern light coming from inside, so the robed wizard simply let himself in. And by _letting himself in_ , he meant looking through the window, and then vanishing, only to reappear inside the shop a moment later, and startling the shopkeeper so badly that the older man literally jumped up from the ledger he had been writing in.

"What… how… what?!" The shopkeeper stammered. "What… what is the meaning of this?!"

"No time!" Agahnim yelled while setting Miranda down on the counter. "I need Life Potion ingredients _right now_ , and _yes_ I'll kill you for them!"

The older man stepped back a little before looking down at the injured Miranda, and sighed before walking over to the shelves. Life Potion was fairly simple to make, provided one had the right ingredients, and thankfully the shopkeeper did. The older man then watched as Agahnim cut and portioned up the ingredients without anything to measure their amounts with, and the robed wizard smiled when the water he used to mix them up with turned blue. If there had been more time, he would've made a more potent version of the potion known simply as _Red_ , but Miranda didn't have that kind of time, so the blue version would have to do.

The effect was immediate; the small punctures on her neck closing so that only some small scars remained, and some of the color came back into her cheeks, but then the potion's effectiveness ran out. She would still be weak, but it was nothing a little rest wouldn't fix, so he picked her up, nodded to the shopkeeper, who nervously nodded back, and then vanished, reappearing back in the street. Hopefully, the man was smart enough to not raise the alarm, and this was confirmed when they had made it to the end of the street without anyone shouting for the guards.

"I feel… a little better." Miranda said.

"Glad to hear it." Agahnim replied, turning the corner toward the inn. "And after a good night's rest, you'll be good as new."

Soon he had reached the inn, where he vanished, immediately bringing them through the open window, and setting Miranda down on her bed. Next he placed her belongings, along with the recovered chest, under the bed with the others, and with a final move of closing the window and drawing the curtains, the robed wizard was able to breathe a sigh of relief. They were safe; the chest had been recovered, Vire was at the bottom of Lake Hylia, and most importantly, Miranda was alive.

"We should be all right, now." He said, walking back over to her. "So, you get some rest, and in the morning we can take these chests to Impa… heh, Link must be worried to death about me by now."

"Agahnim." Miranda replied, turning her head to look at him. "Thank you… for saving my life. You were so brave, and courageous the way you took on Vire, and… I liked it when you said I was your girl."

They smiled at each other as Agahnim leaned over to give her a kiss before pulling the blankets up to her chest, and then she fell asleep, starting to snore before he had even finished. So he gave her another kiss on the forehead before walking over to sit in a nearby chair, and it was only seconds later that the robed wizard was asleep as well.


	29. Chapter 29 Reunion

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Twenty Nine: Reunion**

It was a long walk back to Link's cave.

After he had claimed the legendary Master Sword from its resting place in the hidden arboretum of the southernmost part of the graveyard, the old man had revealed to them one last secret. This secret was another hidden exit that took them into the westernmost part of the Lost Woods, near the border of Arcadia, meaning that they were about as far away from Impa as they could get without leaving the province. The good news was that they were also a good distance away from where Darknut, the Wizzrobes, and the Lynels would be searching for them, but the bad news was that Prince Façade was without his horse.

True to his word, the old man's minions had somehow infiltrated the mausoleum and recovered their stolen property, and it was nice to have their weapons back, but now they had to get back to Impa and let her know that Ganondorf was now in possession of at least one of the chests that Zelda had hidden.

This meant an almost two day long journey across Hyrule's southern outskirts, but ever since Link had saved his life, the Prince had looked upon him in a whole different manner. No longer did he see an uncivilized rogue of the forest, but a cunning warrior who was willing to give up an incredible treasure in order to save him, and true to his word, Façade now treated him as a brother. The improvement in their relationship also made the long journey more bearable.

They talked often during this walk, with Link being surprisingly open about his life with the wizard Agahnim. He told Façade about how his parents had been thieves, leading to him being orphaned at a young age when a large heist went bad, and how he had teamed up with Agahnim, who had run away from the Wizzrobes, in order to survive. Together they combined Link's growing physical abilities with Agahnim's amazing magical talent, and came up with the perfect way to make an easy living.

"So you _faked_ robberies?" The Prince laughed as they walked. "Let me see if I understand this; Agahnim _pretended_ to rob them, then you _pretended_ to defeat Agahnim, and the travelers just _gave_ you their rupees? That's so stupid that it must've worked like a charm… brilliant."

"It certainly did." Link replied with his own chuckle. "Apparently Agahnim got the best part of it though, huh? So what about you, Façade?"

Well, he had told him his entire life story, and they were getting along now, so there was no reason that Façade shouldn't do the same. So he told about how he had met Princess Zelda when they were both very young, and how he had fallen in love with her almost immediately. His mother and Zelda's father detested each other, but that hadn't stopped the Prince from spending every moment that he could with her. Her cousin, Miranda was always around as well, and of course that led the conversation into how awkward it was that she was Blind the Thief.

"Well, Miranda was _always_ adventurous." Façade explained. "Really strong and quick for a girl, too, but… no, I suppose that she always liked to take things that weren't hers. I thought she just liked shiny things, like _all_ girls do, but looking back on everything now, I suppose she had a _bit_ of a problem."

"Sounds like it." Link said. "But let me ask you this; after we defeat Ganondorf and save the Princess… what then?"

This was the part that the Prince really looked forward to; when the quest would be over, and his beloved Zelda would be safe in his arms at last. Once that was done, he intended to marry her, which would one day make him King of Hyrule… of course, he was also the only heir to the throne of Arcadia as well… so… maybe he and Zelda would just have to destroy the borders and make the two Kingdoms into one. Then again, his mother probably wouldn't be too happy about that, but at that point she would be dead and he would be King, so that didn't really matter, did it?

Façade had always hoped that he could get his mother and Zelda's father to somehow fall in love with each other, as he and Zelda had, but as the years had gone by, this had become less and less of an option. Oh well, regardless of what the elders thought, the Prince had his heart set on marrying Zelda, and that was that. This conversation and others like it almost made him forget that it had taken an entire day for them just to reach the bridge to Port Hylia, and that was only the halfway point, meaning that it would take another day as well.

And it did.

Resuming the journey at sunrise the next day, they passed by Port Hylia, crossed the plains, and were entering the Eastern Forest at some point in the late afternoon. Façade never in his life imagined that he would have been happy to see a cave, but in this instance, it meant that the journey was over. Impa was preparing supper when they walked in through the entrance, and his horse, Perfection was still there where he had left him, but there were two others there as well.

"Façade!" Miranda exclaimed in surprise.

She ran over and hugged him, and the Prince had the opportunity to finally meet the wizard, Agahnim as well. Impa was just glad that everyone was safe, and they all had a nice supper of vegetable soup together before the more serious conversations had to start, beginning with Façade's knowledge that Miranda was really Blind the Thief, who even he, himself had once tried to capture… unsuccessfully. Turns out that Zelda knew the whole time, and that Miranda had been sent a similar letter to the one he had received, meaning that she had been working toward rescuing Zelda the whole time.

And this brought them to the subject of the recovered chests, and although it was nice that six of them were now in their possession, Ganondorf still had two. Agahnim explained how the one from Lizard Mine had been taken from him during a fight with Ganondorf, and he looked like he felt horrible about it, until the Prince assured them that it was no fault of his own. After all, Darknut had taken a chest from them as well, so there was no point in casting blame. Still, there was a good chance that the Triforce of Wisdom had been hidden inside one of the chests that they had, and there just _happened_ to be a female member of the royal family with them.

"This is the one!" Miranda exclaimed as green light came from the first one she opened. "I _knew_ I had seen it in the one from the sewers… although it's, um… a little _smaller_ than I remember it being when Zelda showed me… of course, I was only _seven_ when I saw it."

Gathering around, they all saw that it was, in fact, a glowing green triangular object inside of the chest, but it did seem rather small. Not that Façade had ever seen the Triforce for himself, but Impa seemed to be disturbed by this as well.

"Lady Miranda, could you open the next chest?" The old woman asked nervously. "I have a bad feeling, but I need to be sure."

So she did; Miranda opened the next chest, and the next, and the next until all six of theirs were open. Inside were nearly identical glowing green pieces that varied a little in shape, but when the old woman moved two of them closer together for comparison, everyone jumped a little when they suddenly flew together, forming a much larger, but solid piece. The same thing happened with the other pieces, seeming to amaze most of the group, but leaving Impa looking a little paler than she usually did.

"Oh, no." The old woman whispered in horror. "Oh, no, no, no, no."

The six glowing green pieces had fused together to form a much larger pyramid shaped object, but there was obviously something missing. As everyone looked at it, they saw that there were two places along the sides where more pieces could be inserted, and this was very bad news. Until now they had been under the assumption that Zelda had hidden the Triforce of Wisdom inside one chest while using the others as a decoy, but this was just not true. The reality was that the Princess had somehow broken the Triforce up into eight pieces and scattered them… and now Ganondorf had two.

There was no reason to believe that the sorcerer even knew what he had, since the chests could only be opened by a _willing_ female member of the royal family, but what Ganondorf _did_ know that he had was the Triforce of Power. It was known that this was what made the sorcerer so powerful, and it was also known that the only way to disrupt its magic was to possess a _completed_ Triforce of Wisdom.

"What do we do?" Impa asked, clearly frightened. "Zelda is still Ganondorf's prisoner in Spectacle Rock, but in order to defeat him, we need the rest of those pieces."

"Then let's go get them." Agahnim suddenly spoke up. "I've been thinking about this for a little while now, just in case we weren't able to find the Triforce before Ganondorf did, and I've come up with somewhat of a plan. Now, Miranda broke his recorder when she was there last time, meaning that he can't just go anywhere that he pleases. So the first part of my plan is for Link and Façade to create a distraction outside Spectacle Rock in order to lure Ganondorf outside."

The robed wizard then went on to explain that since Link and Façade were the strongest fighters, they would do best in holding off Ganondorf while Miranda infiltrated the fortress, since she was the only one who had ever been inside before. Then while she was stealthily searching for the missing pieces, Agahnim would find the Triforce of Power, and attempt to somehow distract it, keeping its attention away from the battle until Impa could bring in the completed Triforce of Wisdom.

It wasn't much of a plan, but when Agahnim asked if any of them had a better idea, no one was able to speak up. So the matter was settled, and once supper was finished, they all went to bed early. Not wanting to give Ganondorf any more time to prepare for them than he had already had, it was decided that this nearly suicidal plan would be put into place immediately, meaning that they all would need to get plenty of rest, since the journey to Spectacle Rock was going to begin… tomorrow.


	30. Chapter 30 The Hidden Highway

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Thirty: The Hidden Highway**

The sun had only just been setting when everyone bedded down for the night, and although sleeping on a makeshift mat on the hard ground was never as comfortable as a bed, Miranda slept peacefully, mostly due to the fact that she spent the night in Agahnim's arms. She had always been the more independent kind of girl, to the point where her father sometimes worried that she would _never_ find a husband, and that suited her just fine… but then she met Agahnim on the road one day.

She was in love; there was no other way to describe how she felt about the robed wizard that she had really only known for a few days. Not that she was the type to fall in love easily, but once a man had literally swept her off her feet, helped her escape a sewer full of hungry Zoras, broke into a palace with her, and saved her from someone as sick and twisted as Lord Vire… how could any girl resist? However, the comfort of his embrace also made the night pass that much more quickly, and before Miranda knew it, the sun had come up again.

Having done all they could to recover the chests in order to save Zelda, today was the day that they would finally begin moving against Ganondorf, so there had only been time for a good morning kiss before everyone had to get ready. Impa made breakfast while they all got dressed, and it was a rather silent meal, since Miranda figured that they were all just as nervous as she was. The worst part of it all was that in order for Agahnim's plan to work, they would all have to split up… well, at least Link and Façade got to go together, although she wasn't sure if it was worse to fight Ganondorf with a partner or enter Spectacle Rock alone.

"I don't see how we can get to Spectacle Rock without being discovered." Link said, breaking the silence. "That area of Death Mountain is over two days travel from here, and even if we could avoid Ganondorf's minions during the day, what happens if they discover us at night?"

"I have a solution for that." The old woman replied. "There are only a few who know this, but hundreds of years ago, back when Hyrule was at war, a series of tunnels were emplaced in order to let the current King move freely and undetected. Not just any tunnels, mind you, but carved into secret locations, where one could enter at one point, and come out again all the way across the rural outskirts."

"That sounds like some _powerful_ magic." Agahnim commented. "I've heard stories of such portals before, but I've never actually seen one."

"And you're only telling us about this, _now_?" Façade asked. "I understand the need to keep royal secrets, Impa, but think of the hell that all of us could've avoided if we had known about them sooner."

"There was no point in telling you sooner." Impa replied casually. "You see, in order to gain access to these ancient tunnels, an equally ancient artifact is required. A bracelet, actually, one that had vanished from the vault of the North Palace a number of years ago, and was feared lost forever… until last night when I saw it on Lady Miranda's wrist."

Everyone turned to look at her, and Miranda couldn't help blushing a little when she showed the object to them. Yes, she had stolen it from the vault, and no, she did not intend to give it back, nor did she plan on returning the key or the candle. However, instead of being upset with her for stealing, a problem that she genuinely couldn't help, the others were happy. This meant that they could go right to Spectacle Rock, or rather, as close to it as the nearest tunnel was located.

After going through such a long and perilous quest so far, no one wanted to waste any more time, so Impa led them out of the cave, where they walked for about an hour through the forest. There was a beautiful pond up ahead, and it made sense to her that such a place would be a hiding place for a royal entrance, but instead the old woman led them up to an ugly old bush that was just sitting there, slightly apart from the others.

"This is it?" Miranda asked. "Then… what do I do?"

"Touch it." Impa replied.

That seemed simple enough; more than likely she would have to shove the bush and its roots out of the way, with the strength granted by the bracelet being the only way to do so. However, she had only just put her hands on the leaves, when the bracelet vibrated, and there was a rumbling sound as the whole thing began sliding backwards. Apparently the bush had been planted on top of an old stone plate, and a dark hole was revealed when it stopped moving. The top of a carved stone staircase could be seen, but after the third step it was too dark to see.

"Well done." Impa continued. "The secret highway of the southern outskirts is now available to you, at least until Lady Miranda goes through, so you must go in last, my dear. Prince Façade, you and Link must go first, and although you will not be able to see, just keep your mind focused on the front gate of Spectacle Rock, and you will find your way."

There was a moment of hesitation as Link and Façade looked at each other nervously, but then they each took a deep breath to calm themselves before walking confidently down the stairs into the darkness. A moment later the sound of their footsteps disappeared. Miranda called after them, but there was no answer, so apparently the old magic was still working.

"And now the two of you." The old woman explained. "Miranda, you are the only one who has been inside Spectacle Rock before, so you need to take Agahnim's hand and think of the balcony that you described to me last night, the one you escaped from. The road will take you as close as possible, and then once you get inside, you must tell Agahnim how to get to the chamber where Zelda is being held, but do not forget your own quest. I will follow a few steps behind, and remain in a hidden location with the rest of the Triforce until you have the other pieces."

This seemed like a pretty heavy burden, but it was what they all needed to do in order to defeat Ganondorf and save Zelda, so she took Agahnim's hand, and they slowly started down the staircase. The darkness quickly engulfed them, so she moved closer to the robed wizard, holding onto him tightly as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Suddenly she realized that she couldn't see the light from the surface anymore, so she took out the magic candle, and when it lit up she could see Agahnim but nothing else.

There was nothing around them, no walls, no ceiling, nothing but darkness that was so thick that the ground couldn't even be seen underneath their feet. It was a strange sensation, as well as disorienting, but there were people counting on her, so panic was unacceptable at this point. Turning off the candle and putting it away, Miranda led Agahnim forward through the darkness, and after only a few steps another light appeared at the top of a staircase that was now right in front of them.

Just as Impa had described, they were in a different place when they emerged from the hole, and if she wasn't mistaken, that place was somewhere high up in Death Mountain. Hopefully the passage had at least brought them within a couple hours of Spectacle Rock, since it would hurt the plan if they still had to travel for a whole day, but then she saw it. Off in the distance, slightly below their location, was a small feature that had been carved into the rock, and when she squinted to see it more clearly, a moment of joy flowed through her when she realized that it was the balcony.

"That's it!" She exclaimed, pointing to it. "That's the balcony where me and Zelda almost…

Suddenly the joy and excitement was replaced with sadness and regret as Miranda remembered being unable to save her cousin. It had been awful the way Ganondorf had treated them; chaining them up like animals and hitting them and threatening to starve them, and Miranda had only been there for a couple hours. Zelda had been in that horrible place for a _very_ long time now, and her stomach knotted when she imagined what Ganondorf had been doing to her since the escape.

"Don't worry, we'll get her out." Agahnim said, placing his hand on her shoulder. "With all four of us working together, Ganondorf doesn't stand a chance."

Miranda was focusing so hard on not getting all choked up, that she hadn't even replied to his reassuring statement, when she gasped as she felt him pick her up. They then vanished, reappearing closer to the balcony in the distance, only to vanish again, just like they had done to get across the lake to Snake Palace. Agahnim seemed to be having an easier time about it, probably since he didn't have to stay in the air this time, quickly closing the distance on the balcony until finally they reappeared standing on it.

Well, they were inside, and now it was time to split up. The labyrinth of Spectacle Rock was now before them, and somehow she knew that this was going to be more dangerous than anything they had faced so far. Miranda was so nervous, in fact, that she was having trouble telling him how to get to the central chamber from there, but then her words were stopped when he put his hands on her cheeks and pulled her in for another kiss.

"I love you, Miranda." He whispered, stopping all of her thoughts.

It may have been inappropriate for such a lengthy interruption during such an important part of their quest, but she confessed that she loved him as well, and for a short time they just stood there hugging each other. Thankfully none of Ganondorf's minions happened to come into the room during this time, and one quick kiss later, it was time to get going. Once she had given him the directions, Agahnim vanished, reappearing at the hallway junction for a second before vanishing out of sight, and then it was time for Miranda to go as well.

For a moment she wondered how she was going to find the hidden chests, but then she remembered that after everything that happened, she still had her compass. So she looked at it, and then followed the arrow out of the room, being careful to stay in the shadows as much as she could as she started down the corridor.


	31. Chapter 31 Knight Fall

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Thirty One: Knight Fall**

Passing through the darkened tunnel, Link and Prince Façade emerged somewhere in the western region of Death Mountain. Impa's secret road had greatly shortened the distance they had to travel, although it was still a good walk to the ancient front gates of the mountain fortress. So far they had encountered no resistance along the way, which was nice, and probably because all of Ganondorf's minions were out searching for them. So there they were, the two heroes standing in front of the enormous gates, and Link could not deny that he was feeling nervous.

"Well, we made it." Façade said, folding his arms as he looked ahead. "Everything that we have done so far has led us to this point, and now we are sure to be tested, but… what do we do now?"

"I don't know." Link replied. "Those gates seem pretty solid… but hey, we're supposed to distract him, right? So let's just make a bunch of noise until we get his attention."

It was as good a plan as any, so that was exactly what they did; yelling and screaming, while throwing stones at the gates, while also using many colorful names in order to call out the fortress's evil master. They yelled and yelled, throwing more rocks, whistling, and using even more colorful names until Link was finally forced to address an issue that had been bothering him since he had met the Prince.

"No, no, Façade, stop." The young man said, putting his hand on his shoulder. "It's _Ganondorf_ … listen to me, his name is _Ganondorf_ … _Ga-non-dorf_. You got it?"

"Of course I do." The Prince replied, apparently confused. "Why… is that… not what I've been saying?"

Link just shook his head, but then they both froze as the sudden sound of rusty hinges signaled that the front gate of Spectacle Rock was opening. They watched intently as the enormous lock turned, and then there was a horrible metallic _squeak_ as the gate opened just a little… enough so that a lone figure could emerge. This was it, the young man thought as their rival stepped out of the shadows, but then the nervousness increased when they saw that it was not Ganondorf who had come out to meet them.

"Well, well, well." Darknut the Overwhelming said as he approached. "I would have never thought that weaklings such as yourselves could have escaped from the Wizzrobes, and for a while I was tempted to ask how you did it. But then again, it doesn't matter… since I am about to cut you down like the defenseless children that you are."

"Are you certain about that, Darknut?" Façade asked as he drew his blade. "You don't seem to have any Lynels around to protect you this time, and the way _I_ remember it, I ran you through during our last fair fight."

"And now there are _two_ of us." Link added as he readied the Master Sword. "How does it feel to be outnumbered by superior opponents?"

"Superior? _You_?" The Knight laughed, drawing his own sword. "A crippled old beggar woman could've put up a better fight that you did last time; believe me, I know from experience. And you, Façade, have yet to face me since Ganondorf made me stronger, so come to me and face your deaths."

So they did, the two heroes rushing forward to meet the Knight's challenge, but this time working as a team. Together Link and Façade attacked from both sides, alternating who would attack high while the other went low in an attempt to drive Darknut back… but their plan wasn't working. They had intended to overwhelm him until he either lost his balance or made a mistake, but neither of these happened. The Knight just continued using his shield and sword to deflect attack after attack, with no sign of fatigue.

They switched sides, attacked high and low, covered each other with their shields, and attacked every time one of them saw an opening. However, their opponent was just too fast and strong, countering their efforts perfectly until suddenly swinging outward with his shield. The black metal was like a wall coming at them, and they blocked with their own shields, but there was so much force behind the blow that it was able to knock both of them off their feet.

"Whatever is the matter, _children_?" The Knight laughed as they hit the ground. "Are you starting to realize how hopeless your situation is? If so, then I offer you this one chance to survive: Drop your weapons right now and run away with your tail tucked between your legs. Run as fast as you can, and do not stop until you have left Hyrule, never to return. This is your only chance."

"I have a counter offer." Façade replied as he and Link got up. "How about after I kill you, I turn your armor into a wood-burning stove to give Zelda as a wedding present?"

The Prince let out a war cry as he ran at Darknut, with Link following close behind, and the battle resumed. They both fought as hard as they could, but the Knight was so powerful that again he was able to hold them off. However, this time instead of simply defending himself, their opponent counter attacked, kicking Link in the stomach the moment an opening was shown, and at the same time striking Façade in the mouth with the hilt of his sword. Link dropped to his hands and knees, gasping for breath, and the Prince was knocked onto his back.

Façade tried to get up, but the Knight struck him with his shield, making him fall on his face. The Prince rolled away and tried to get up again, but Darknut kicked him in the rear, giving him a mouthful of dirt and rocks the next time he fell down. Link was almost recovered by this point, but he could see that their current strategy wasn't working. The Knight was such a frustrating opponent, and he was obviously a better swordsman than both of them, and this made Link angry. So angry that his arm began to shake, and that was when he got an idea. It was ignorant, probably his worst idea yet, but it was better than just sitting there while Façade got beaten to death.

Not bothering to think his actions through, Link took out his boomerang and tossed it at their opponent, running after it as quickly as he could, while putting all of his might into the sword. As expected, Darknut turned away from Façade and blocked the attack with his shield, and now it was time to put the legendary power of the Master Sword to the test. Jumping up into the air and spinning around, he swung the blade, and the Knight blocked, but this time something unexpected happened. The blue blade tore into the shield, sliding through as if it were made of parchment, and cleaving the shield neatly in half as the startled Knight stumbled backwards.

Darknut cried out in surprise, dropping both halves of the now useless shield as he regained his balance, but Link was far from finished with him. He came at the Knight with everything that he had, slashing at him with his blade again and again, but their opponent was not quite finished either. With both hands on his sword, he struck the young man's shield hard enough to stagger him, and then he made a wild slash that Link was forced to block, only to take advantage of the created opening by kicking the young man in the groin.

Link made a kind of squeaking sound as he stumbled a bit before dropping to his knees, the pain leaving him unable to do anything about it when the Knight backhanded him across the face with his free hand. The Master Sword fell from his hands as the young man ate the dirt, turning over just in time to see Darknut raise up his sword for the kill… only to suddenly cry out in pain when Façade silver sword was plunged into his back all the way to the hilt. The silver tip was sticking out through the Knight's chest as when he groaned and dropped his weapon, giving Link the opportunity that he needed to end this battle once and for all.

Ignoring the slowly fading pain as he picked up the Master Sword, the young man got to his feet, and made one last attack; a powerful sideways swing that sent the weapon right through their opponent's neck, and then Darknut's helmet was sent flying through the air… with his head still inside. The Knight's heavy body collapsed even before the helmet hit the ground, pulling itself off of the Prince's sword as it fell, and leaving the two heroes just standing there for a few moments.

"We did it?" Façade asked with genuine surprise in his voice. "I mean… _of course_ we did it! Monsters like Darknut might have had a chance while we were rivals, Link, but now that we've combined our strength, nothing in this world can stand against us!"

"Façade." Link replied, breathing heavily. "Right now, I am just happy to be alive… well, I assume that it is pretty safe to say that we caused a distraction… so come on… let's go get your Princess."

Each taking a short time to catch their breath, Link gave Darknut's body a solid kick in the groin as some kind of rather pointless payback before they once again turned toward the entrance to Spectacle Rock. The front gate had been left open from when the Knight came out, so… did that mean that there was no one there? Could they have really gotten so lucky, that Ganondorf sent everyone he had out to search for them, and now they could just walk into the fortress unchallenged?

"Come, brother." Façade continued, limping slightly as he started toward the open gate. "The time has come to vanquish the evil Gargamel once and for all. Zelda and the Triforce of Power await!"

The young man started to correct him, but then decided that it was time to give up. If the Prince really wanted to call their enemy by the wrong name, then that was completely up to him. So with one more deep breath, Link followed him toward the entrance to Spectacle Rock where the final battle of their very _long_ quest awaited them.


	32. Chapter 32 The Last Pieces

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Thirty Two: The Last Pieces**

As difficult as it was for her to part ways with Agahnim, even for a short time, Miranda knew that her part of the plan to finally free Zelda was probably the most important of all. Checking her compass to make sure that she was going the right way, she stayed in the shadows as she headed down the first corridor. Something was wrong, though… the last time she had been there, the whole fortress had been swarming with Ganondorf's minions, but this time the place was practically empty. Not that she was complaining, since this made it a lot easier for her to sneak around, but now the place was just… creepy.

Turning down torch-lit hall after torch-lit hall, Miranda was thankful that her cousin had sent her the compass along with that letter, or else it would have been very easy for her to get lost in this place. It was a maze of identical tunnels that led her through identical rooms, but still the compass led her onward as she went up and down staircases, taking her deeper and deeper into Spectacle Rock. Now that she was starting to grasp just exactly how big this place was, she was thankful that all of the previous occupants were gone, since it could have taken weeks to fight her way through them… even this far.

"Come on, where did he put you?" She whispered to herself, turning down another corridor. "How would he even remember how to get all the way back here?"

Heading down another staircase, Miranda noticed that the movements of the compass were getting narrower, meaning that she had to be getting close, but then she looked up and gasped, jumping out of the way as what looked like a giant spectral… _hand_ … came floating toward her with fingers outstretched. It closed into a fist, trying to grab her as it flew past, and then it turned and vanished when it flew right into the wall.

"What in the world?" She whispered, staring at the wall.

Honestly she had never seen anything like that before, and for the longest time she just stood there staring at the wall as if waiting to see if it was going to come back. The area around her was quiet now, so she decided to move on, but then had to drop down to the floor to avoid getting grabbed when the hand came floating out of the wall behind her. It continued across the hall, again vanishing into the next wall that it touched. This time there was no break before it reappeared, this time coming up through the floor, and making her have to do a forward roll to avoid it.

As always, the hand continued on its way, vanishing through the ceiling, and now Miranda knew that she had to run. Taking off and sprinting down the corridor, she had to dodge, jump, and sometimes slide right underneath the hand to avoid getting grabbed, while also trying to follow the compass. She didn't know what the hand was, or why it was trying to grab her, but what she _did_ know was that she didn't like the idea of it pulling her through a wall.

The hand was getting faster now, and its approach patters were becoming more unpredictable, as if it was trying to find new ways of catching her, so Miranda had to try new approaches as well. She had to use cartwheels and backwards handsprings to avoid it now, as well as using her hook shot for quick escapes. For a while this worked, but the hand was now reappearing faster as well, and then it got her. Jumping out of the way to avoid it from the ceiling, the hand immediately came at her from behind, gripping her tightly as its spectral fingers closed around her body.

Thankfully her arms were still free, and she was able to launch the hook shot into the opposite wall, stopping it in its tracks. The grip on her tightened more as it tried to pull her into the wall, but the grapple on the hook shot held, and there was really only one thing that Miranda could do at this point. So she raised up her free hand, and slammed her fist down onto its thumb as her bracelet pulsed. She wasn't sure if it would do anything, being that she could see right through the thing, but it did work.

There was a boney _crack_ as its thumb bent backwards as a result of the blow, and then the grip around her body released. She fell to the floor as it continued toward the wall until it vanished within, and she expected it to reappear, but this time it didn't. She got to her feet and retracted the hook shot while continuously looking around, but it appeared that the hand was gone. Hopefully a broken thumb would teach it not to grope a lady without permission, she thought with a slight chuckle, and then she checked the compass again.

Somehow with all of the running around, and the different paths that she had to take in order to avoid getting grabbed, she had still managed to get closer to the missing Triforce pieces. Hopefully she was pretty close to them now, and this was confirmed when she descended one last staircase, and found what she was looking for. Sitting there on a pedestal in the center of the room, were two chests, each with the emblem of the royal family on the top. Sighing with relief, and thinking that it had both been easier _and_ harder that she thought to find them, Miranda started into the room.

Suddenly something moved; it came across the room from the corner at incredible speed, causing her to reflexively jump backwards, but not before something sharp made her _yelp_ as it cut across her arm. Miranda stumbled back into the doorway and fell on her rear, cradling her arm as the object stopped moving just past the door. It looked like a block of the same material as the walls and floor, but it was somehow mobile, and there was long sharp spikes on all sides, one of which had some of her blood on it.

Apparently it had reached the range of its motion, since now it was slowly retracting into the corner. In fact, it was moving so slowly now, that it gave her an idea; was it possible that it had to retract all the way before attacking again? Or would it simply get her if she stepped back into its path. Deciding to risk it, she carefully stepped out of the doorway, and was pleasantly surprised when the spike block just kept retracting. The trap was probably designed to kill in a single strike, and this flaw allowed her to walk right up to the chests.

Like the others, they instantly opened for her, since she was a female member of the royal family, and there they were; the last two pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom. Miranda could barely contain her excitement as she picked up the pieces, and they neatly fit together, fusing into a single unit when she held them close enough. For a moment she wondered what kind of magic Zelda had used to separate them in the first place, but this could wait until after she had been rescued. Putting the Triforce piece into the largest pocket of her cloak, she turned around and was trying to figure out the best way to get past the trap again, when her thoughts stopped as the spectral hand reappeared.

It came out of the floor right where she was standing; its fingers wrapping around her, pinning her arms to her sides and lifting her off her feet before she could do anything. With great speed, it carried her upward into the ceiling, and then everything went dark for a second before she was surrounded by a different kind of light. It took a second for her eyes to adjust, but then she realized that it was sunlight that she was seeing as the hand carried her away from another wall. It then dropped her roughly, making Miranda groan as she slid to a stop across the rocky terrain.

The hand returned to the wall as quickly as it had appeared, and Miranda was confused as to what had just happened. That is, until she looked up and saw a familiar looking balcony high above, and she couldn't help letting out some pained laughter as she finally realized what happened. It had taken her back to where she had first entered Spectacle Rock, and that would have been horrible if it had done this when it first appeared, but now that she already had the Triforce pieces, the hand had actually _helped_ her along.

"Lady Miranda!" A familiar voice exclaimed before Impa came into view. "Lady Miranda, what happened? Are you injured?"

"Nothing serious, Impa." She replied, groaning as she sat up. "But I got them! I got the last pieces of the Triforce!"

Taking the fused piece out of her pocket, Miranda held it close to the ones that the old woman carried, and then there was a brilliant flash of green light as they all fused together into a shimmering pyramid. This was it, they had finally assembled the Triforce of Wisdom, and now it could be used to defeat Ganondorf and the Triforce of Power.

" _I thank you, dear Miranda_." It said in a soft female voice. " _There was wisdom in Zelda's plan to keep me safe, but it was distressing to have myself divided in such a way_."

"You are quite welcome." Miranda replied. "But right now we need your help; Ganondorf has been made nearly invincible by the Triforce of Power, and you are the only one who can defeat it."

"The fate of the whole Kingdom is at stake." Impa added. "As much as I hate to say it, the Triforce of Power must be destroyed if we are to defeat Ganondorf and save Princess Zelda."

" _No, no, my friends, no_." The Triforce answered. " _I do not desire to, nor do I have the strength to destroy the Triforce of Power. I understand that you are frightened, and that you are weary from your long quest, but I assure you that violence is not the answer. Take me to him, and I will show you a better way._ "

The green pyramid fell silent, and as much as Miranda disagreed with its advice, she was about to follow it, when she realized that they had another problem. The balcony was too high up for her to use the hook shot, meaning that the only way for them to get in was to use the front gate. But it was so far away, and it had been correct in saying that she was really tired… so tired that it was tempting to take a rest.

" _Nothing worthwhile is easy, Miranda_." The Triforce continued. " _Your friends are counting on you, and everything will turn out all right in the end, you'll see_."

"I hope you're right." Miranda replied as she started carrying it toward the distant front gate.


	33. Chapter 33 Wizard's Duel

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Thirty Three: Wizard's Duel**

Keeping a ball of flame in his hand just in case, Agahnim teleported from shadowy corner to shadowy corner while following the directions that Miranda had given him. However, so far he had encountered no resistance, making him believe that the whole fortress was empty, but how could that be? Was Ganondorf really so full of himself that he believed he could defend this place, Zelda, and the Triforce of Power by himself? Apparently the answer was yes, but even if the sorcerer _was_ an overconfident ass, the robed wizard had faced him before, and knew that his power was not to be underestimated.

So he took his time, trying not to let his worrying about Miranda interfere with his part of the plan, which was to sneak into the throne room and attempt to free the Princess without being detected, so that she would be out of danger when the final confrontation took place. Thankfully the throne room wasn't very far away, but now he had to be even more careful once he reached the door. The chamber was huge, with doors on all sides, but it appeared to be as empty as the rest.

The first thing he saw was the shimmering red Triforce of Power as it hovered slightly above its pedestal, then he saw the large throne itself, and finally the young woman who was chained to it, sitting on the stairs. She was in rough shape; her hair was all messed up, her dress was torn in several places, and it looked like there were bruises on her face as if someone had been beating her. Obviously this girl was Princess Zelda, since Miranda hadn't spoken of any other prisoners, and then Agahnim started to get angry when he imagined that Miranda had once also been chained there.

Checking again to make sure that no one was around, he vanished, reappearing behind the throne, and trying to stay in the little bit of shadows that were available. Still there were no guards or monsters in sight, so all that was left was to check for traps. The last thing he wanted to do was spring something that could possibly kill both him and the Princess, so he was just starting to check for pressure plates…

" _How long are you going to hide back there, Agahnim_?" The Triforce asked. " _There are no traps or guards… we are alone here_."

"What?" Zelda asked as she looked around. "Triforce, who are you talking to?"

"He's talking to _me_ , your Highness." Agahnim answered, coming out of hiding after a deep breath. "I am Agahnim the wizard, and I've come here to free you."

" _How noble of you_." The Triforce continued. " _Then by all means, try_."

Wasting no time, the robed wizard turned to throw the fireball at the Princess's chain, when he suddenly screamed as a bolt of red lightning shot out from the Triforce, striking him in the side. The force knocked him off his feet, and sent him sliding across the floor, where he was unable to move until the crackling energy stopped flowing across his body. The pain was still there, though, making him groan as he tried to get up, only to stumble sideways and fall over again. A second try got him up to his hands and knees, and there he remained until the sound of footsteps and slow clapping filled the air.

"Not bad, Agahnim, not bad." Ganondorf laughed as he entered the room. "Of course, if you somehow survived the beating I gave you, I'm not surprised that you're still conscious after a hit from the Triforce. Of course, now I have to beat you to death very, _very_ slowly, but I'll give you a choice: Are you going to come over _here_ and die, or do I need to come to _you_?"

"Stop it!" Zelda exclaimed as Agahnim tried to get up. "You don't have to hurt…

The Princess's words were interrupted as Ganondorf suddenly backhanded her, making her _yelp_ as she fell to the floor. The sorcerer then pointed at her and started to say something, but then it was his turn to be interrupted when Agahnim appeared right in front of him with a hard punch to the face. He had still been holding the fireball, so there was a burst of flame as Ganondorf was sent reeling backwards, but he managed to regain his balance after a few steps.

"Didn't your father ever teach you not to hit women?" The robed wizard asked, still catching his breath. "Or is it that you're so ugly and ignorant that the only way you can get one is to chain them up?"

"I know what you're doing, Agahnim." Ganondorf replied as he wiped the blood off his lip. "You're trying to make me angry so that I ignore Zelda and focus on you, but guess what… it worked."

The sorcerer vanished, reappearing off to the side with a kick that Agahnim had to vanish himself to avoid, coming back with an uppercut. Ganondorf was fast enough to catch his wrist, and then he jammed his knee into the robed wizard's stomach, before picking him up over his head with both arms. He tossed him as hard as he could, but Agahnim vanished in mid-air, reappearing behind him and using the momentum to slam both of his feet into the sorcerer's back. This time Ganondorf was thrown off his feet, getting a face-full of floor as he slid to a stop, but he vanished when the robed wizard tossed another fireball, making it disburse on the floor as the sorcerer reappeared behind him with a kick.

His large foot connected with the side of Agahnim's head, throwing the robed wizard sideways, where he crashed into the nearby wall before falling to the floor. Ganondorf waited until he was looking at him again, before backhanding Zelda across the face even harder than before. The robed wizard was getting angrier at this brute all the time, but had learned by now that he could not win against him in a fair fight, so he began gathering magical energy in his hands for a little surprise. It would take a little time to prepare, so he did nothing when the sorcerer hit Zelda two more times, but this _did_ give him the time he needed.

" _My_ father taught me to take what I want." Ganondorf said as he slowly walked toward him. "So I do; rupees, treasures, women, anything I want, simply because I'm the strongest, and there is _nothing_ that a little weakling like you can do to stop me. That is why _I_ am going to be King of all Hyrule, and you are going to…

" _Trueno_!" Agahnim yelled, aiming his hands at him once the sorcerer was standing right over him.

A blinding flash of white light suddenly erupted from his hands, whiting out the entire room, and making Ganondorf scream in agony as he covered his eyes. Zelda had to hide her face as well, and even Agahnim had to shut his to keep from suffering the effects. The sorcerer had taken the full force, so when the light faded he was stumbling around like he couldn't see, and that's when the robed wizard attacked. Jumping to his feet, he ran at Ganondorf and grabbed him around the waist, lifting him up as he kept running, and then diving onto the floor so that he was on top of him. He then got on top of the sorcerer and began punching him in the face repeatedly, flame gathered into each one for each hit.

Pinning Ganondorf's arms down with his knees, there was burst after burst of fire as he just kept punching him, but then another bolt of lightning came from the Triforce, making Agahnim scream as he was thrown off of his opponent. He crashed onto the throne stairs next to Zelda, and the robed wizard was starting to get up, when another red blast put him back down, followed by another, and another until he couldn't move at all. Even when the energy stopped flowing, he was now in so much pain that breathing made it worse, and now Ganondorf was starting to recover.

" _Must I do everything for you?_ " The Triforce asked as the sorcerer got up. " _It was only a simple Thunder Spell; your sight will recover fully in another twenty seconds… I trust you can handle the little wizard from there?_ "

"Of course, I can." The sorcerer said as he got up. "No more games, Agahnim."

Holding out his hands as if he were holding something, a long and very sharp trident suddenly materialized in his hands. Try as he might, Agahnim was still unable to move as Ganondorf approached. Soon the sorcerer was standing right over him, and he slowly raised up the weapon for the kill, but stopped as the sound of more footsteps was heard entering the room. It was painful to even turn his head, but the robed wizard was glad he did, because now he could see that it was Link and Prince Façade who had come in.

"Façade!" Zelda cried happily once she saw him. "Façade, is it really you?!"

"Yes, my love, it's me." The Prince replied confidently. "I've come to rescue you, and take you home… but _first_ Link and I will deal with _Gargamel_."

"You know." Link added as they readied their weapons. "I'm starting to like the idea of calling him that. Now let's do this!"


	34. Chapter 34 The Triforce of Wisdom

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Thirty Four: The Triforce of Wisdom**

This was it, Prince Façade thought as he and Link readied their weapons. After everything that they had all been through, it was finally time to defeat the enemy and save the Princess… and after seeing the condition that his beloved Zelda was in, he wanted to defeat that enemy now more than ever. What kind of man would take such a beautiful and kind young woman as her, and treat her in this way? One that needed a sword rammed down his throat, _that_ was what kind. So they attacked, quickly advancing on Ganondorf, and then sparks flew the first time their weapons clashed.

With as big and muscular as Ganondorf was, he was equally agile; using his trident to block both of their attacks, and being strong enough to shove the two heroes backwards when they attempted to bash him with their shields. Once they were staggered, the sorcerer gathered an energy sphere in his hand and tossed it at Link. The young man raised his small shield to protect himself, but when the sphere collided with it, the resulting explosion shattered the shield as Link was thrown backwards. He crashed to the floor and rolled backwards to a stop as his sword slid from his hand, and even Façade had been knocked down by the force of it.

"Pathetic." Ganondorf said as the Prince got up. "How can the two of you _together_ be so worthless, when Agahnim held his own against me _by himself_?"

"I'll show you worthless!" The Prince yelled, raising his weapon.

Façade attacked again, bringing his silver blade down hard on the trident, only having it deflected, and needing to use his shield to keep from getting stabbed. For all of his bad qualities, Ganondorf was an incredible fighter, and where he thought to be able to overwhelm the sorcerer, it was now taking all of the Prince's skills just to stay in the fight as they moved around the throne room. Although heavily motivated by what his opponent had done to Zelda, he couldn't help feeling a little afraid, as well as frustrated that his attacks were doing nothing, while each one of Ganondorf's staggered him.

"Something the matter, _your Highness_?" The sorcerer chuckled after staggering him again. "You aren't getting _tired_ already, are you, Façade? I hope not, because it would _surely_ break Zelda's heart if I killed you and she had to be my slave _forever_."

The anger grew again, and with renewed energy Façade made an incredibly powerful overhead swing, bringing his blade down onto the trident and forcing Ganondorf back a step. But then the sorcerer easily shoved him backwards before raising his leg and booting him right in the shield. The Prince fell onto his back, but before he could do anything, Ganondorf raised the trident, and Façade screamed as the three spearheads were stabbed right into the shoulder of his sword arm.

"Façade!" Zelda screamed, tears running down her cheeks as she pulled on her chains. "Let him go!"

"Let him go? Whatever for?" Ganondorf laughed, twisting the blades, causing another scream. "He's having a wonderful time down there, aren't you…

The sorcerer's words were interrupted by movement as Link jumped at him while bringing the Master Sword down, not on Ganondorf, but on the trident. Sparks flew as the metal weapon was sliced in half, and the young man immediately went for another attack, but the sorcerer vanished, reappearing long enough to pick up Façade's sword, and then vanishing again. This time he reappeared behind him, with a quick slash that made Link cry out as the tip of the blade tore across his back.

He stumbled forward, turning around while swing his blade, but Ganondorf vanished again, reappearing off to the side with a low swing that hit Link's leg. This pattern kept repeating, Ganondorf constantly vanishing and reappearing just long enough to cut him again, and again, until the young man dropped his sword, and fell to his knees. The next time Ganondorf reappeared, he kicked him in the face, knocking him onto his back, and he was about to finish him off, when a fireball came from Agahnim's hand.

It struck the sorcerer in the face, making him groan as he was knocked off balance, and then it was Façade's turn to act again. Having ripped the head out the trident out of his shoulder, the Prince pulled himself to his feet, and stabbed it into Ganondorf's back as hard as he could, twisting it in order to hear him scream. This scream was cut off a second later, though, when Link picked up the Master Sword, and rammed it into the sorcerer's stomach all the way to the hilt. Both Façade and Link pulled the weapons out of him, making the Sorcerer fall to his knees, and then Façade reclaimed his sword.

"It's over, Gargamel." Façade groaned, trying to wield his sword with his off hand. "And now you die!"

The two heroes pulled back the swords, and were just about to chop off Ganondorf's head, when they screamed as they were struck by two red bolts of lightning from the Triforce of Power. Like when it happened to Agahnim, they were thrown across the room, their weapons flying out of their hands as they crashed to the floor. A second bolt struck them as well, immobilizing them while a beam of energy struck Ganondorf. Except, this one didn't hurt him, instead slowly healing his injuries.

" _A valiant effort, young heroes_." The red Triforce said. " _Unfortunately, my plans for Hyrule do not include any of you emerging triumphant. Ganondorf may be a useless idiot, but having him both marry Zelda and rule this land is also the best way to cause them to suffer_."

" _And why would you want to do that_?" A soft female voice replied. " _Did you learn nothing from your banishment_?"

Everyone turned, and looked as Miranda walked into the room, followed by Impa and the completed Triforce of Wisdom. The beam that was healing Ganondorf stopped a moment later, as did the ones hurting Link and Façade, leaving none of them in very good shape as the Triforce was carried closer.

" _Look at the destruction you have wrought, Triforce of Power_." The green Triforce continued. " _This is exactly why the royal family of Hyrule hid you away; you caused nothing but pain back then, and now, hundreds of years later, you are still doing the same thing. I know that you are hurt and angry for what has been done to you, but somewhere deep down, you know that you brought it upon yourself_."

" _On myself?_ " The red Triforce asked. " _I did not choose to be buried under tons of rock, nor did I choose to be left there for hundreds of years by an ungrateful family who does not even remember me. The royal family of this land has already made their judgement, and my only option is to make them suffer until they realize how wrong they were_."

"We already know that!" Zelda exclaimed. "It was a mistake to lock you away like that, now we are already paying for it! Please, Triforce of Power, look around you and understand that you have already been punishing us this whole time. You have sat there and watched me suffer for weeks, and Miranda and I have both _begged_ you for forgiveness… everything is up to you, now, Triforce of Power… please, come home with us."

Silence filled the chamber as everyone waited to hear the Triforce of Power's decision, and Façade hoped that it would be the right one, since he was no longer in any condition to fight. Looking around the room, he saw that Agahnim was doing just as badly, leaving it all down to Link and Miranda if the battle resumed.

"No, don't listen to her." Ganondorf argued. "Not after everything they've done to you. We had a plan to conquer this Kingdom and enslave the royal family, don't you remember?"

" _I… am no longer sure_." The red Triforce said. " _I have felt nothing but anger for so long… but now that I am forced to hesitate and think everything through… Triforce of Wisdom, I… just do not know_."

" _Then do nothing_." The green Triforce replied. " _Allow them to sort this whole mess out by themselves, and then you will know that the path of evil and hatred can only lead to destruction_."

"No, Triforce, they are lying to you!" Ganondorf yelled as he got up. "But fine, if killing the lot of them is the only way to make you regain your senses, then I will take care of them myself!"

With magical energy gathering around his body, the sorcerer's remaining wounds began to close, while the broken trident vanished, reappearing whole again in his hands a moment later. But while this was going on, Miranda ran over to Zelda, and quickly used the skeleton key to unlock her chains like she had done once before. The two girls then ran over to their wounded men, and helped each one to their feet, helping them to walk out of the chamber as Impa carried the Triforce of Wisdom.

"Link!" Façade called, removing his ring. "Take this!"

He tossed it to Link, who quickly put it on, and the result was his green clothes turning blue, and hopefully it would be enough to protect him from Ganondorf. The Prince also left his shield for him, which Link picked up before the girls walked him and Agahnim out of the chamber.

"Oh, Façade, you were so brave." Zelda said, kissing him on the cheek. "I knew you would come for me, I just _knew_ it."

"Of course, I came." The Prince replied, trying to ignore the pain. "I love you, Zelda."

"And I love _you_ , Agahnim." Miranda added as she kissed him on the cheek as well. "But as soon as I get you out of here, I'm going back to help Link."

Façade's thoughts returned to the young man that he now called brother, and the Prince felt horrible about not being able to help him any longer against Ganondorf. Miranda was capable, though, and hopefully she would be able to get back to him in time to help. He was sure that Link could do it, though… he just knew it… and he hoped that he was right as they moved toward the entrance of Spectacle Rock.


	35. Chapter 35 The Battle Ends

**The Legend of Zelda**

 **Chapter Thirty Five: The Battle Ends**

With the Master Sword in one hand, and Prince Façade's magical shield in the other, Link stood ready to do battle with the now fully healed Ganondorf. Even the sorcerer's _weapon_ had been restored, and recalling how difficult it had been to defeat him with the assistance of Façade and Agahnim, the young man was a little more than nervous. The protection provided by the blue ring made him feel a little better, although it hadn't seemed to help the Prince when he was having a trident shoved through his shoulder.

"You think that you're on the edge of victory?" Ganondorf asked, looking at him with a _snort_. "I may have lost both Zelda and the Triforce of Wisdom, but I'll hunt them down once you're dead. Then I'll have Façade torn apart by Lynels, I'll have Agahnim executed by the Wizzrobes, and as for Miranda… she and Zelda will watch as I kill the King and take the throne… and then spend the rest of their lives as my concubines."

"Ganondorf, I just have to ask." Link replied. "What is _wrong_ with you? Look around… you're hiding out inside of an old fortress, kidnapping Princesses, and trying to steal the crown like some kind of… some kind of _storybook villain_. You've had your minions kill _dozens_ of people _all over_ the southern outskirts; the caretakers at Eagle Prison, the thieves at Lion Fortress… and not to mention the way you've been treating the _Princess_. Doesn't… doesn't any of this seem… _wrong_ to you?"

The sorcerer was silent for a moment, and then he chuckled before vanishing, and Link dove out of the way just in time to avoid being stabbed by the trident when he reappeared behind him. Rolling to a squatting position, the young man swung his blade, but Ganondorf vanished again, reappearing off to the side with a stab that Link just barely had time to move his shield in front of. This second attack took him by surprise, and although the shield protected him, the young man was knocked off balance so that he fell to the floor. The sorcerer vanished again, and this time Link swung his sword wildly, making Ganondorf grunt with surprise as the blade struck his leg just as he was reappearing.

"Argh, damn it!" He cried, stumbling back. "You'll pay for that!"

"What's wrong, _Gargamel_?" The young man asked as he got up. "Façade and I _already_ beat you once, and _apparently_ Agahnim beat you _by himself_ , so what is it? Not so powerful without the Triforce to back you?"

Ganondorf narrowed his eyebrows and gritted his teeth, letting out an angry growl as he raised his trident into the air. Now spinning it around, Link wasn't sure what he was doing, but quickly got the idea as a dozen large bats appeared within the circle that seemed to be made of… fire? _Bats_ made of _fire_? There was no more time to think as the first bat flew at him, exploding in a burst of flame when it collided into the shield, and making him stagger backwards. Then the second bat came, followed by the third and the fourth, each one knocking him back until he fell on one knee.

The bats kept coming; the blast from the next one making him drop the shield, but he was able to hit the next one with the sword. Expecting it to explode in his face, the fire-bat was instead thrown backwards, where it collided with the next one, resulting in the same explosion as before. However, the young man was so caught up in the surprise, that when the bat after them came shooting through the fire, there was no time to react. It flew right past his sword and crashed into his chest, making Link cry out as the explosion knocked him into his back.

The Master Sword fell from his grip, and once the room stopped spinning, Link rolled over and reached for it, only to grunt with pain as Ganondorf vanished and reappeared while stomping his foot down on his arm. His arm was pinned, so he was about to try reaching the sword with the other, but stopped when he felt the head of the trident come to rest against his cheek.

"How was _that_ for power, you little _whelp?_ " The sorcerer asked, pressing down on his arm a little. "Darknut and I were robbing and murdering _far_ better men than you _long_ before you were born. I have been the scourge of lands that you have never even heard of… I have trained in magics that would leave _Agahnim's_ head spinning… and to set the record straight, it was the Triforce of Power that needed _me_. I discovered it in the mine, I gathered the monsters that now attack this land, and it will be I that becomes King of Hyrule… think about that… _as you die!_ "

Link shut his eyes as Ganondorf raised up the trident to stab him, but then there was a strange sound, like metal wrapping around metal, and the stab never came. Opening his eyes and looking up, the young man saw that the sorcerer's arms were above his head, but now there was some kind of chain wrapped around the trident. Suddenly there was a pulsing sound as Ganondorf was pulled backwards, and when he moved it allowed Link to see that the chain had come from Miranda's hook shot.

"No one lays a hand on my cousin!" She yelled, trying to keep pulling him. " _No one!_ "

Ganondorf glared at her before jamming the trident into the floor so that it was stuck, and then he grabbed the chain and started pulling. Without the bracelet's power, there was no way for her to overpower him, so the angry look on her face was quickly replaced with fear as she was moved toward him. Miranda's feet slid across the floor as she pulled back with all her might, but then the struggle ended as Link, his arm no longer pinned, picked up the Master Sword and rammed it through the sorcerer's back.

The young man pulled the sword back out as roughly as he could, causing a spurt of blood as Ganondorf let go of the chain, and then the sorcerer stumbled away, moving across the room until he collapsed to his knees in front of the Triforce's pedestal. He made an attempt to get back up, but just coughed up more blood before sinking back down.

" _It is decided_." The Triforce of Power said as Ganondorf gasped and choked. " _I have made a great error of judgement, and I shall return with you… Link._ "

It was hard to describe the level of excitement that Link felt as the red pyramid spoke these words; it meant that he had won… all of them had… Princess Zelda was safe, everyone was alive, and now… now the Triforce of Power was _theirs_. This whole quest had been long and difficult, but now it was all over, and as he sheathed the Master Sword, he knew that everyone could go home.

"No!" Ganondorf yelled, coughing up more blood as magical energy began crackling around him. "You may have bested me with weapons, but you forget that I am the greatest sorcerer in the world, and I am not finished yet! If I can't have Zelda and Hyrule, then neither will you… I'll use my darkest magics… and draw us both into a world of darkness from which we will never return!"

The sorcerer then screamed, and the magics around him intensified, shaking the room to the point of cracks forming in the walls. Now the energy was swirling around him, creating a noise as if it were a tornado, and the young man could see Miranda waving for him to follow her out, but he needed to get the Triforce. So he ran past Ganondorf and picked up the red pyramid as the magical tornado swirled faster, and he was about halfway across the room when the sorcerer disappeared. Ganondorf screamed as he was pulled into what looked like… _nowhere_ … and then the sound got even louder before Link was pulled backwards.

He fell down and rolled backwards toward the swirling vortex; holding tightly to the Triforce with one arm while reaching out for anything that he could find with the other. What he found was the trident that Ganondorf had stuck into the floor, and for a moment it stopped his descent, only to be pulled out of the floor a second later. Thankfully it was still connected to Miranda's hook shot, because Link barely had time to slide his hand over to the chain before it unraveled, and the trident followed its master into the vortex.

Up at the other end of the hook shot, Miranda seemed to have escaped to beyond the vortex's pull, but the young man was worried that she would not be able to hold him for long as everything in the immediate area, including Façade's shield, was sucked in. But then he barely heard the pulse of her bracelet, and suddenly she pulled him forward as if he weighed nothing. He and the chain flew toward her until they were out of the vortex's pull. This was good because it allowed them to escape, but also bad because Link crashed to the floor really hard, as did Miranda when she fell on her back a short distance away.

As if reacting to them being gone, the vortex suddenly closed a few seconds later and the room fell silent. It took a bit of time for the shock of what he had just escaped from to wear off, and the first thing he wanted to do was shout in victory, which he might have done if not for the pain of landing on top of the Triforce of Power. Miranda was there to help him up, though, and he still managed to carry the red pyramid out while leaning on her. It felt like a really long walk to get out of the still silent Spectacle Rock, where the others were waiting, and of course Miranda dropped him in order to run back to Agahnim.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Link said, leaning against the door as Miranda jumped into the robed wizard's arms. "Yes… we're all fine now."

"Link, you did it!" Prince Façade exclaimed as he came over, his arms protectively around Zelda. "I can't believe it… you're… a hero… no, you're _the_ hero… of all Hyrule! You'll be a _legend_ for this, you know."

"You _all_ will." Princess Zelda replied, leaning heavily on Façade. "You saved me… I'll see to it that you're all greatly rewarded… but… Façade, can you take me home? I'm so tired… I want to go home."

Picking her up into his arms, Zelda was asleep and snoring even before he was holding her all the way. The Prince then kissed her on the forehead, and Miranda sighed wistfully, but gasped when the completely healed Agahnim picked her up in the same way. He also kissed her on the forehead, making her smile and snuggle into him, and while Link was genuinely happy for his friend, he felt a little jealous of Agahnim and Façade as they all started walking away from Spectacle Rock. After all, Façade was carrying Zelda, and Agahnim was carrying Miranda, while Link and Impa were each carrying a Triforce.

"Don't despair, young man." Impa said casually as they walked. "Façade and Agahnim may have already found their brides, but I can see that there is still much in store for you, Link. So for now, rest and celebrate the return of Princess Zelda and _both_ Triforces to their rightful places… because before you know it, your greatest adventure will be upon you."


End file.
